Modern finance is changing, and small digital banks are squeezing into untapped white space. Will some of these neobanks end up breaking through the barriers separating them from the large established banks? Many of them are making strides in making a real change.
Take Nu Holdings (NU 3.59%). It's just over a decade old, but it has already onboarded more than 60% of the adult population in Brazil to its platform. It's taking its momentum and bringing it into new locations, and it's expanding its platform to better serve its customers and offer even more value.
As a young company in growth mode, it's constantly announcing new products and capabilities. Its most recent news, though, could be a game changer for the company and supercharge its business in 2026.
Image source: Nu.
Banking access for everyone
In addition to its core market of Brazil, which has the largest population in Latin America, Nu has expanded into Mexico and Colombia, the two countries with the next-largest populations. Nu started as an alternative to the traditional banking system in Brazil, which has high barriers to access, even for the affluent population, and even more so for the mass market, which has been somewhat excluded from the system. Management says it's responsible for bringing 28 million people into the banking system.
It's transporting its successful model to its new markets, and it has already applied for a banking charter in Mexico, which has a more fragmented banking system than Brazil. Until now, Nu has operated in Mexico with a limited selection of products that it can market without a full banking charter through a status as a "Popular Financial Society (SOFIPO)". It was approved for a proper banking charter in April, the first SOFIPO to achieve this license, and that could boost growth in Mexico, where it has 10 million customers.
What's new at Nu
Although it has been approved for the banking license in Mexico, it still doesn't have one in Brazil, where it has been operating as a Payment Institution, a Credit, Financing, and Investment Company, and a Securities Brokerage Company. That's how it has been able to break into the space and disrupt from the inside, since in Brazil, a handful of large, established banks dominate the financial services sector.
Recently, there have been regulatory changes in Brazil, where payment companies can't call themselves banks. That prompted Nu to apply for a banking charter in Brazil in 2026, where it serves more than 110 million customers.
Beyond alleviating any regulatory issues, this could also open up new growth avenues for Nu in Brazil, where it still has a long runway through monetizing its existing customers. Management has explained that even though it has a majority of the addressable population as customers, it only has about 5% of the addressable market for gross profit, leaving a significant runway for expansion.
NYSE: NU
Key Data Points
Expanding into new regions
The successful export of Nu's model into new countries creates the opportunity to achieve excellent performance in more locations. It had previously said it would invest in a bank that operates in the Philippines, and in September, it said that it would apply for a U.S. bank charter to "explore future international opportunities."
There don't seem to be any immediate plans to launch in the U.S., but having a bank charter in hand paves the way for a smooth transition when the time is right.
Growth catalysts in 2026
Nu is demonstrating fantastic growth, and it's positioning itself to keep that up in 2026 and beyond. Sales were up 39% year over year (currency neutral) in the third quarter of 2025, and it added 4 million new customers. It's making moves that should help sustain momentum in 2026, inspiring confidence that it can continue growing for many years.
