The news
On September 10, 2026, Nu Holdings (NU) announced the Nubank US launch, entering the market through partner Lead Bank while its own national bank charter is pending, and unveiled Nu Global, a multicurrency account.
Nu said in its newsroom that it serves 140 million customers in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Its U.S. website lists two products: the Nu Account, an interest-bearing deposit account, and the Nu Credit Card. The Nu Account pays a standard 3.50% annual percentage yield, and Nu says customers who pair it with the credit card and make qualifying card transactions will soon be able to earn 4.50% on balances up to $10,000. The card pays 1.5% cash back, which Nu says will soon rise to 2% for customers who meet direct deposit and other conditions.
Nu describes itself on the site as a financial technology company, not a bank. Deposit and credit products are provided by Lead Bank, a member of the FDIC, and Nu United States LLC acts as the credit servicer. New customers are being admitted from a waitlist. Customers can send fee-free transfers to Pix, CLABE or Bre-B keys in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, and the site says many more countries are coming soon.
Nu announced on January 29, 2026, that it had received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a national bank, Nubank, N.A., and Banking Dive reported on September 15 that the bank is projected to launch in 2027. Chief executive David Velez told Bloomberg, as cited by Banking Dive, that the Lead Bank project began before Nu decided to apply for a license. U.S. CEO Cristina Junqueira said the goal is to "earn the place of being people's primary banking relationship."
Banking Dive also reported that Nu Global supports more than 35 countries, converts deposits into Circle's USDC stablecoin and lets customers hold and trade digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The numbers
- Nu customers in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia
- 140 million
- Planned bundled savings rate on first $10,000 (coming soon)
- 4.50% APY
- Standard Nu Account rate
- 3.50% APY
- Credit card cash back
- 1.5%; 2% with direct deposit coming soon
- Expected full OCC charter (Banking Dive)
- 2027
Why CEOs should care
For bank CFOs and treasurers competing for consumer deposits, Nu is pricing to win primary accounts rather than idle savings. The planned 4.50% tier is capped at $10,000 and tied to using the credit card, which makes it a relationship offer, not a rate-chasing one. Ask your deposit team how much of your balance base sits below $10,000 per customer, and whether your own bundles reward direct deposit and card use the same way.
For payments and remittance leaders, the fee-free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia target a corridor where Nu already holds the receiving accounts at scale. Remittance providers and banks serving Latin American communities in the U.S. should model the impact of a competitor that can land money on its own platform at both ends.
For fintech boards, Nu's sequence is instructive: launch through a sponsor bank, gather customers and feedback, and switch to its own charter later. That path depends on the partner bank's compliance strength, so fintechs copying it should ask how customer accounts, data and regulatory responsibilities would migrate when a charter arrives, and what happens if approval stalls.
The bigger picture
Nu joins a wave of fintechs seeking U.S. bank charters. Comptroller Jonathan Gould said in August that the OCC had received 40 new charter applications in roughly 18 months, and Banking Dive reported that online lender Avant filed for a national bank charter on September 18. Competition for cross-border customers is also heating up: MoneyGram announced a stablecoin-backed card in Colombia in September, Payments Dive reported. Not every nonbank is pressing ahead. On September 14, days after Nu announced its launch, online lender Enova International (ENVA) withdrew its applications to buy Grasshopper Bancorp, saying regulators lack clear standards for nonbanks that want to become banks. Nu's approach, operating through a partner while its own application proceeds, lets it build a customer base without waiting on that process.
What’s next
Watch how quickly Nu moves customers off the waitlist, when the 4.50% tier and transfers to more countries go live, and whether the OCC grants final charter approval on the 2027 timeline Banking Dive reported. Rival banks' responses on deposit pricing in the fourth quarter will show how seriously they take the threat, and any change to Nu's bundled rate will show how long it is willing to pay for growth.
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