Nubank cleared to operate as a bank in Mexico

Nubank has received final authorization from Mexican authorities for Nu Mexico to begin operating as a bank, Finextra reported. The approval gives the Brazilian fintech group a regulated banking platform in a market where its local unit has more than 15 million customers.

The National Banking and Securities Commission, known as CNBV, approved Nu Mexico’s banking licence last year. Since that approval, the company has completed what Finextra described as a rigorous regulatory audit and now has 30 calendar days to finish its shift from a Popular Financial Society into a full-service bank.

The sequence reflects a two-stage regulatory process. A licence approval establishes that an applicant may proceed toward becoming a bank, while the final authorization follows supervisory checks before operations can start under the new status. For Nu Mexico, the change moves the business beyond the framework it used as a Popular Financial Society and into a broader banking regime overseen by Mexican regulators.

Finextra reported that Nu Mexico’s customer base of more than 15 million would make it the largest digital bank in the country. The scale of the business gives Nubank a larger operating base in Mexico as financial technology groups compete with banks and other regulated providers for deposits, credit and day-to-day account relationships.

Mexico was Nubank’s first market outside Brazil. The company introduced a credit card there in 2020 and later added a savings account, personal loans and secured cards, according to Finextra.

David Vélez, Nubank’s founder and global chief executive, said the authorization and the company’s growth in Mexico show the group’s model can change how customers manage their money. “We are building a new way of delivering financial services in Mexico, one truly centred on people,” Vélez said, according to Finextra.

Vélez also framed the banking authorization as part of a multi-year capital commitment. “Mexico is a key market for Nubank, and this is a decisive step in our long-term commitment to the country, with a total projected investment of USD 4.2 billion through 2030,” he said.

The Mexican approval sits within Nubank’s broader international expansion. The group has also established operations in Colombia. In the United States, Nubank received conditional approval in January from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a de novo national bank, according to Finextra.

For investors and policymakers, the Mexican authorization adds another regulated market to Nubank’s international footprint. It also places a large digital banking franchise more fully inside the Mexican banking supervisory perimeter, where capital, governance and operating requirements are set by banking authorities rather than by the lighter framework applied to non-bank financial entities.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.