Brazilian neobank giant Nubank reports "strongest quarter" in history as bags 5.7 million customers

Brazilian neobank giant Nubank reported its “strongest quarter” in its history as it bagged nearly six million customers and shrunk its losses.

Revenues at Latin America’s most valuable fintech more than tripled year-on-year to $877.2m in the quarter, helped by growth in its loan book and new customers. Its revenues came in ahead of estimates by analysts.

In the quarter, it added 5.7 million customers and the bank which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway now has 59.6m customers, meaning it is one of the “largest digital banking platforms in the world”.

It said its average revenue per client was up 63 per cent on the year to $6.7.

The bank also reported a net loss of $45.1m in the quarter, compared with a loss of $49.4m the year previous.

Nubank, which went public in December, started in 2013 when David Vélez co-founded it with Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible in Brazil, before expanding the business to Mexico in March 2020.

Its US shares have lost more than 60 per cent of their value since it listed.

Deposits came in at $12.6bn in the quarter, compared to $6.5bn the year previous.

Nubank has seen stellar growth in Latin America, a region where half the population is unbanked and where it offers a free current account and debit card.

Its biggest market is Brazil, where it has 57.3m customers, 1.6m of which are SMEs. In Mexico, it has 2.1m customers and in Colombia 211,000.

Last month, Nubank secured a $650m credit line.

The funds come from a three-year local currency line of credit financed by Morgan Stanley, Citi, Goldman Sachs and HSBC, who underwrote Nubank’s IPO in December last year, where the fintech raised around $2.8bn.

Vélez said: “This is the strongest quarter in NU’s history. The result is driven by our advanced risk modelling, as well as disciplined and resilient lending, especially in light of the current macroeconomic conditions.”