CorpDigest
Nu Holdings Ltd.
Leadership History
3 leaders · Full leadership timeline
Last reviewed: 2025-07-15 · By Swet Parvadiya
Nubank's FY2024 results — $11.5 billion in revenue, $1.97 billion in net income, and 114.2 million customers — represent the company's transformation from a loss-making startup to one of the most profitable financial institutions globally, with a 28% return on equity and 29.9% efficiency ratio. The company serves 60% of Brazilian adults and is expanding rapidly in Mexico and Colombia. CEO David Vélez and co-founders Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible have built a digital banking platform with unit economics — $0.80 cost to serve, $5 customer acquisition cost — that legacy banks cannot replicate. The strategic priority is proving that a digital-only model can capture a meaningful share of Latin America's $1 trillion financial services market while sustaining profitability as growth naturally decelerates.
Nu Holdings generates revenue through a digital-first financial services platform that serves 114.2 million customers across three Latin American markets. The company's revenue model is built on two primary sources: fees and interest income. In FY2024, fee and commission income contributed approximately 16% of total revenue, primarily from interchange fees on credit and prepaid card transactions — fees paid by merchants when Nubank customers swipe their cards, not directly charged to consumers. Interest income contributed the majority of revenue, derived from interest charged on revolving and refinanced credit card balances, purchases of credit card receivables, personal loans, and interest earned on deposits, government bonds, and other interest-earning instruments. The company's total revenue of $11.5 billion in FY2024 represented a 43.7% year-over-year increase (58% on an FX-neutral basis), with Q4 2024 revenue of $2.99 billion setting a quarterly record. Gross profit was $5.24 billion for FY2024, up 50.5% YoY, with a gross profit margin of 45.6%. Net interest income reached $2.1 billion in Q2 2025, with a net interest margin (NIM) of 17.7% and a risk-adjusted NIM of 9.2%. The company's revenue per customer expands dramatically with tenure: monthly ARPAC was $10.7 in Q4 2024, but customers with over eight years on the platform generated $27.3 in Q2 2025. The average Nubank customer uses 4.1 products, and 30% of Brazilian adults consider Nubank their primary bank. The company's operating model is defined by extreme cost efficiency. Monthly average cost to serve per active customer was $0.80 in Q4 2024 and Q2 2025, compared to $5-15 for traditional banks. The efficiency ratio — calculated as total non-interest operating expenses and transactional costs divided by net interest income plus fees and commissions — improved to 29.9% in Q4 2024, a 610 basis point improvement year-over-year and 150 basis points sequentially. In Q2 2025, the efficiency ratio further improved to 24.7%. This efficiency is driven by the absence of physical branches (the company operates zero branches), cloud-native infrastructure, AI-driven customer service, and automated credit underwriting. The NuX Credit Engine collects more than 30,000 data points per monthly active customer and uses proprietary and alternative data sources to underwrite customers and manage credit risk with a focus on optimizing long-term Net Present Value rather than short-term NPLs. The company's lending portfolio totaled $27.3 billion as of Q2 2025, with the interest-earning portfolio (IEP) at $15.7 billion. Credit card receivables were $14.6 billion in Q4 2024, expanding 28% YoY. The secured lending portfolio grew 615% YoY to $1.4 billion in 2024, representing 23% of total lending, driven by payroll loans and FGTS (Anniversary Withdrawal Loans) where Nubank captured over 30% market share of new originations. Personal loans and Pix financing products also contributed to interest income growth. The company's deposit franchise is a critical funding source and revenue driver. Total deposits reached $28.9 billion in Q4 2024 (up 55% YoY FXN) and $36.6 billion in Q2 2025 (up 41% YoY FXN). The loan-to-deposit ratio was 40% in Q4 2024, indicating significant room for deposit-funded lending growth. In Brazil, deposits reached $23.1 billion in Q4 2024, with funding costs at 89% of blended interbank rates. In Mexico, deposits surged to $4.5 billion in 2024, up 438% from 2023. The company's revenue by geography in FY2024 was heavily concentrated in Brazil: $8.41 billion (73% of total), Mexico $523 million (4.5%), and Colombia $112 million (1%). However, international markets are growing faster: Mexico's customer base expanded 91% YoY and deposits 438% YoY. The company's product portfolio spans five 'financial seasons': spending (credit and prepaid cards, NuPay), saving (Cajitas/Money Boxes, high-yield deposits), investing (NuInvest brokerage, crypto trading), protecting (insurance, NuTravel), and borrowing (personal loans, payroll loans, Pix financing, SME working capital). The Ultravioleta premium product targets high-income customers with exclusive benefits and reached approximately 700,000 customers in 2024, generating $1.8 billion in quarterly purchase volume in Q4 2024. The Marketplace platform had over 1 million customers shopping in 2024, with partnerships including Apple Store exclusive deals and Hopper travel bookings. NuCel, the company's MVNO telecom service launched in partnership with Claro, further diversifies the ecosystem. If the company's credit card interchange fee revenue stream — which depends on purchase volume — were to decline by 20%, Nubank would lose approximately $460 million in annual revenue, given the $125 billion purchase volume in 2024 and typical interchange rates of 1.5-2.0% in Brazil.
Founder, Chairman, and CEO
Vélez founded Nubank in 2013 after Sequoia Capital abandoned its Brazil expansion. He recruited co-founders Junqueira and Wible, raised capital from Sequoia and Kaszek, and led the company through its 2021 IPO and transformation to profitability. Under his leadership, Nubank grew from zero to 114+ million customers and achieved a 28% ROE. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2021 with his wife Mariel Reyes.
Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer
Junqueira brought deep Brazilian banking expertise from Itaú Unibanco, where she ran the largest credit card division. She designed Nubank's customer-centric product strategy and go-to-market approach. She became one of only two self-made female billionaires in Brazil following the 2021 IPO. She is expected to lead Nubank's future US banking operations.
Co-Founder and CTO
Wible built Nubank's cloud-native, microservices-based technology platform from scratch using unconventional choices including Clojure and AWS. His architecture enables the company to serve 114+ million customers with 99.99% uptime and a $0.80 cost to serve. He established the engineering culture that makes Nubank a technology company rather than a traditional bank.
The most immediate threat to Nubank's margin and market share is the intensifying competition in Brazil's digital banking sector, where incumbent banks have launched their own digital subsidiaries and fintech challengers are replicating Nubank's no-fee model. Itaú Unibanco's digital bank Iti, Bradesco's Next, and Banco do Brasil's digital offerings now compete directly for the same customer demographic. Additionally, global fintechs including Mercado Pago (with its integrated e-commerce and payments ecosystem) and PicPay are capturing market share in payments and consumer credit. In Q2 2025, Nubank's 90+ NPL ratio increased to 6.6% (from 6.5% in Q1 2025), reflecting the rise in early delinquency observed in Q1 2025. While the 15-90 NPL ratio declined to 4.4% in Q2 2025, the company acknowledges that part of NPL growth has come from expansion down the credit spectrum — lending to riskier borrowers to sustain growth. The 90+ NPL ratio of 7.0% in Q4 2024 and 7.2% in Q3 2024 is significantly higher than the 4.1-4.5% range for the 15-90 leading indicator, suggesting that delinquencies are migrating to later stages. The company writes off unsecured lending NPLs at 120+ days (versus 360+ days for credit cards), which accelerates loss recognition but also means the 90+ ratio captures a stock of problematic loans. Brazil's macroeconomic environment poses specific risks. The country's interest rate cycle, inflation volatility, and unemployment rates directly impact credit demand and default rates. In 2024, Brazil's Central Bank maintained high interest rates to combat inflation, which increased funding costs for Nubank — though the company's deposit costs at 89% of interbank rates remain competitive. A recession or sharp rate increase could simultaneously reduce credit demand and increase defaults. The company's geographic concentration is extreme: 73% of revenue comes from Brazil, where Nubank now serves approximately 60% of the adult population. CEO David Vélez has acknowledged that 'at some point, we're going to run out of Brazilians,' making international expansion critical. Mexico and Colombia are growing rapidly but are not yet profitable at the entity level, requiring continued investment that pressures consolidated margins. Mexico's 10 million customers and $4.5 billion in deposits are promising, but the company is still awaiting a full banking license that would unlock additional products. Regulatory risk is substantial. The Central Bank of Brazil's open banking regulations and Pix instant payment system — while creating opportunities — also lower barriers for competitors. The company's reliance on the Pix platform for payments and Pix financing products creates dependency on a government-controlled infrastructure. Changes to interchange fee regulations could directly impact the 16% of revenue derived from fees. The company's 2024 strategy included expansion beyond traditional banking into travel (NuTravel), telecommunications (NuCel), and marketplace commerce — but these verticals are unproven at scale and could distract from core banking profitability. The secured lending growth of 615% YoY, while improving asset quality, exposes Nubank to concentration risk in payroll loans and FGTS products that are tied to public sector employment and government policy. The company's capital position, while described as 'one of the best-capitalized players in the region,' faces pressure from rapid loan growth. The loan portfolio expanded 40% YoY in 2024 and 40% YoY FXN to $27.3 billion by Q2 2025, requiring continued capital generation. While the company holds $2.4 billion in excess cash at the holding level, the Basel Index in Brazil of 20.2% provides a buffer but must be maintained as the balance sheet grows. The company's share price volatility — trading between $23 and $42 in 2024-2025 — reflects investor uncertainty about whether Nubank can sustain 40%+ revenue growth while managing credit quality in a deteriorating macro environment.