Why Brazil’s Nubank Enters the US Without Its Own Bank Licence

Nubank grew from a São Paulo credit-card start-up into Latin America’s largest digital bank, and now it wants American customers. It has arrived in the United States on another bank’s licence, with an account built on stablecoins.

On 10 September 2026, Nubank, a New York-listed Brazilian digital bank, announced US retail accounts and a product called Nu Global. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, a US partner bank, not by Nubank itself.

Why This Matters Beyond Brazil

Nubank was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible. It started as a no-fee credit card provider and now operates in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.

Its parent, Nu Holdings, reported 139 million customers at the end of June, The Motley Fool reported. About 118 million are in Brazil, 16 million in Mexico and 5 million in Colombia.

Second-quarter net income reached US$1.1 billion, up 49% from a year earlier, according to the same report. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2021, raising US$2.6 billion.

That offering valued it at US$41.4 billion, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested US$500 million earlier that year. The United States is its first market outside Latin America, and a very different kind of test.

It is entering the most crowded consumer banking market in the world, without a licence of its own. How it does so matters to investors in the stock and to people who move money between countries.

What Was Launched

Two things went out together, starting with a US retail offering of a debit card, savings account and credit card. The company markets the savings account as high-yield.

The second product is Nu Global, a multi-currency digital account with fee-free transfers across more than 35 countries. The advertised yield on Nu Global runs up to 3.50% a year.

Nu Global is built on two stablecoins, USDC and EURC, which is the genuinely novel part. A stablecoin is a digital token designed to hold a fixed value against a currency, here the dollar and the euro.

Both tokens are issued by Circle, a US company, and EURC is backed by euro reserves held at regulated European institutions. The United States set federal rules for such tokens in the GENIUS Act, signed by President Donald Trump on 18 July 2025.

That law requires payment stablecoins to be backed one-for-one by US dollars or other low-risk assets. The stablecoin base is the differentiator Nubank is betting on, aimed at people who move money across borders.

Why It Is Not a Bank Launch

Nubank’s own disclaimer is explicit, saying Nu is a financial technology company and not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the US deposit insurer.

Lead Bank, based in Kansas City, Missouri, rents its charter and payment connections to fintech companies. That arrangement is called a partner-bank model, and it is common among American fintech firms.

The practical effect is that Lead Bank holds the deposits and carries the regulatory obligations. Describing this as Nubank beginning US banking operations therefore overstates what happened.

The Licence It Does Not Yet Have

Nubank applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the national bank regulator, for a charter in September 2025. It received preliminary conditional approval in January 2026 for Nubank, National Association, in McLean, Virginia.

Two things are still missing, starting with deposit insurance from the FDIC. It also has no account at the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, which banks need to settle payments.

Until both arrive, the charter is not operational, and the company cannot take deposits on its own licence. The partner-bank structure is therefore a stepping stone rather than a destination.

What the Company Said

Founder and chief executive David Vélez called the launch the first milestone of a multi-decade journey. His stated ambition is positioning Nu as the leading digital bank in the world.

Cristina Junqueira, a co-founder who now runs the US business, was more concrete. She said the company wants to earn the place of being people’s primary banking relationship.

Neither claim is a forecast anyone can check today. They are statements of intent and should be read as such.

The Downgrade That Landed the Same Week

On 16 September, Itaú BBA, the investment-banking arm of Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco, cut Nubank to market perform. It had rated the stock outperform, and it lowered its price target from US$20 to US$18.

Several accounts described this as a sector downgrade, which is not what happened. The house trimmed estimates across its banking coverage but downgraded only Nubank.

Bradesco kept its outperform rating and was the only large Brazilian bank the house still rated a buy. The reasons were slower growth, fading consumer stimulus, oil-driven inflation risk and possible central bank curbs on high-cost credit.

Itaú BBA expects Nubank’s earnings growth of 14% in 2027 against 32% in 2026. That, the house argued, leaves little room for negative surprises.

What the Share Price Actually Did

On the day of the product launch, 10 September, the shares closed at US$15.02, up 0.13%. On the day of the downgrade, 16 September, they closed at US$13.81, down 2.68%.

That extended a run of three consecutive daily declines, leaving the stock roughly 15% lower this year. It sits well below its 52-week high of US$18.98.

Three separate downgrades have landed on the stock this year, from three different houses. They came from different analysts and should not be conflated.

What It Means If You Are a Customer

If you hold a Nubank account in Brazil, Mexico or Colombia, nothing about it changes. If you open the US account, your deposits sit with Lead Bank and are covered by its federal insurance.

That standard FDIC cover is at least US$250,000 per depositor, per ownership category, at each insured bank. If you use Nu Global, you hold value in stablecoins, which carries a different risk from a bank deposit.

The FDIC lists crypto assets among the products its insurance does not cover. Stablecoins depend on the reserves and governance of their issuers, in this case Circle.

None of that makes the product unsound, but the word account carries two different meanings here. Customers should check which balance is a deposit and which is a token before moving large sums.

What Is Not Yet Known

It is not known when the FDIC and the Federal Reserve will decide on Nubank’s own charter. It is not known how quickly Nubank would move customers from Lead Bank to its own charter.

It is also unclear how Nu Global will compete with established remittance and stablecoin apps. It is not known what the US expansion will cost Nubank or when it could turn a profit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Nubank, the launch announcement, InfoMoney, the Itaú BBA revisions, Investing.com, the Nubank downgrade, Exame, the house’s coverage of the cut, The Motley Fool, Nubank customers and second-quarter income, CNBC, Nubank’s 2021 NYSE listing, Wikipedia, Nubank’s founders and markets, Lead Bank, the partner bank’s business, Wikipedia, the GENIUS Act, Wikipedia, USDC and its issuer, Circle, the EURC stablecoin, FDIC, what deposit insurance covers