Itaú Unibanco traces its roots to 1924, when João Moreira Salles opened a banking section in his trading house in Poços de Caldas, and to 1943, when Alfredo Egydio de Souza Aranha founded Banco Central de Crédito in São Paulo. The two lineages grew into Unibanco and Banco Itaú through decades of acquisitions, including state-bank privatizations in the 1990s and 2000s. On November 3, 2008, weeks after Lehman Brothers failed, they announced a merger that created Brazil's largest private bank.
How the bank earns its profit
Itaú is a universal bank. Most revenue comes from lending to individuals and companies, funded by deposits, with additional income from Itaucard credit cards, Rede merchant acquiring, Itaú BBA investment banking, asset management, and insurance and pensions. In 2025 management reporting, Retail generated ~$20.2 billion (R$112.2 billion) of operating revenue and Wholesale ~$11.3 billion (R$62.6 billion).
Profitability in a competitive market
Brazil's banking market has changed sharply since the Central Bank opened it to fintechs and launched the Pix instant-payment system in 2020. Nubank, Inter, Mercado Pago and others now compete for accounts, cards and payments. Itaú has responded by consolidating its apps, cutting costs and leaning on credit underwriting. The results have held up: recurring profit reached ~$8.42 billion (R$46.8 billion) in 2025 with an efficiency ratio of 38.9%, and recurring ROE was 24.3% in 2Q26.
The XP stake
In 2017 Itaú agreed to buy 49.9% of XP Investimentos, a fast-growing independent broker, without taking control. After XP listed on Nasdaq, Itaú separated most of the holding through the XPart reorganization and later share sales, ending up with financial exposure to XP's growth rather than an integrated platform.
