Nubank was founded in 2013 by Colombian David Vélez, Brazilian Cristina Junqueira and American Edward Wible. The first transaction with a Nubank card was made on April 1, 2014. Four years later, Nubank became a unicorn startup with its valuation of US$1 billion.[4]
In the company's first two years of existence, it raised 600 million Brazilian reais.[5] In September 2014, Nubank raised $14.3 million from Sequoia Capital, along with Kaszek Ventures and Nicolas Berggruen.[6] Nubank launched its first financial product, an international Mastercard credit card that has no annuity fees and can be completely managed through a mobile app, and then in June 2015, Nubank led a series B round of investment with Tiger Global Management, along with existing backers Sequoia Capital, Kaszek Ventures and QED Investors.[7]
In 2017, Nubank launched its loyalty program,[8] Nubank Rewards. The program's points (which never expire) can be redeemed for a product catalogue or discounts on services, travel and entertainment. Customers can try the program for free for 30 days, after which they will be charged a fee in order to further use it. In the same year, it also launched its digital account, NuConta.
In October 2018, Tencent bought a minority stake of Nubank worth $180 million ($90 million in capital increase, $90 million in shares).[9] In late 2018, it began offering payments through debit.[10] In 2018, after launching its new credit card design, Nubank was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for making the world's largest unboxing.[11] In early 2019, the fintech started testing personal loans[12] with a few of its digital account users. In May 2019, the company announced it would begin operations in Mexico through a subsidiary called Nu.[13] This was the first time Nubank offered its services and products outside of Brazil.[14]
The CEO of Nubank, David Vélez, representing the company in 2023
In January 2020, Nubank made its first acquisition with the purchase of Plataformatec, a company that specialized in software engineering and agile methodologies.[15] In July of the same year, the company also acquired Cognitect, responsible for Datomic and the Clojure programming language.[16] In September 2020, Nubank acquired Easynvest, an investment broker also from Brazil, for an undisclosed amount.[17]
In November 2020, Nubank announced that the company would begin operations in Colombia.[18] In April 2021, Edward Wible, who was CTO of the company for 8 years, left his position "to contribute more directly to the construction of the systems and infrastructure of the company" as the Director of Technological Platforms.[19]
The bank completed an IPO in December 2021.[2][20] After the IPO, Nubank's cofounder Cristina Junqueira became the second woman in Brazil to reach the self-made billionaire status, since she held 2.9% stake of company stock ($1.3 billion).[21] Before and after the IPO, Berkshire Hathaway invested a total of $1 billion in Nubank stock.[22][23]
In 2022, Forbes ranked Nubank #1 out of the fifteen best Brazilian banks.[24]
In October 2023, it was announced that the bank would use generative artificial intelligence to offer credit to customers.[25] It was announced that the AI would function as a virtual assistant that would also give tips on how to use a credit card.[26] It was developed using OpenAI's GPT-4 and other bank intelligence systems.[27]
Also in October 2023, the bank announced that it had requested, through its subsidiary Nu México, a license to operate as a bank in Mexico, with the aim of increasing its portfolio in the country.[28][29][30] It also began the gradual offer of payroll loans for INSS retirees and pensioners.[31]
In May 2024, Nubank announced their own travel eSIM in partnership with Gigs[32].
Description
Among the company's products are NuConta (a digital account), an international credit card, both without fees,[33][34] personal loans, life insurance and investments. The company's differentiating factor is to offer a credit card which is controlled completely through the means of a mobile app. The app allows its users to track transactions in real time, block their respective credit card, apply for a limit raise and contact customer support.
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