Nu is expanding beyond Latin America for the first time with a US consumer banking proposition and a separate stablecoin-powered global account, extending the largest digital bank in Latin America, with more than 140 million customers, into the world’s largest financial services market while targeting the cost of cross-border money movement.
The group now offers US customers current accounts, debit and credit cards, savings products and domestic and international transfers. Deposits are held at Nu’s FDIC-insured partner Lead Bank; Nu applied for a US national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2025 and received conditional approval in January 2026.
The expansion represents an important geographic shift for a company whose growth has largely been built across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Alongside the US banking launch, Nu launched Nu Global, a multi-currency account that uses Circle's USDC and EURC stablecoins to support international transfers across more than 35 countries.
FROM LATIN AMERICAN CHALLENGER TO GLOBAL PLATFORM
Nu said the launches mark a strategic step in its evolution from a Latin American leader to a global digital banking platform. In Brazil it is the largest private financial institution and serves more than 60% of the adult population; in Mexico it is the largest digital bank; and in Colombia it ranks fourth by deposits.
Nu cited BCG estimates that US retail banking revenues reached about $1.2 trillion in 2024 and are expected to approach $1.4 trillion by 2029.
The Nu Account offers a 3.50% annual percentage yield, and the Nu Credit Card, issued through an exclusive relationship with Mastercard, carries no annual fee and offers 1.5% cashback; Nu Global is aimed at people with “global lives”, the company said.
STABLECOINS MOVE CLOSER TO MAINSTREAM BANKING
In Nu Global, all deposits are converted into USDC or EURC, stablecoins pegged to the US dollar and the euro, earning a daily yield of 3.50% APY and 2.20% APY respectively, and the account is paired with a virtual Mastercard card.
Customers can send and receive money free of charge across more than 35 countries, starting with Europe and Latin America, and can also hold and trade a curated selection of digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
WHY IT MATTERS
“We want to earn the place of being people's primary banking relationship, and capturing even a small share of the U.S. market will be transformative for our business,” said Cristina Junqueira, Nu co-founder and chief executive of Nu US.
Founder and chief executive David Vélez called the US launch “the first milestone of a multi-decade journey of positioning Nu as the leading digital bank in the world”.