We are rebuilding banking around AI
In the first quarter of 2026, Nubank demonstrated that patient, disciplined growth can reshape an entire continent's relationship with money. The Brazilian-born fintech reported $871 million in net income — a 41 percent year-over-year rise — while crossing $5 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time and serving more than 135 million customers across Latin America. Founder David Vélez is now staking the company's next chapter on artificial intelligence, positioning proprietary models not as a feature but as the foundation of a reimagined banking experience. The deeper question the company carries into its future is whether the same measured philosophy that built an empire in familiar terrain can hold when tested by the unfamiliar.
- Nubank's profits surged 41% to $871M and revenues broke the $5B barrier for the first time, signaling a company that has moved decisively past the proving-ground phase.
- With 135M+ customers and an 80%+ compounded annual growth rate since 2022, the platform is no longer disrupting Latin American banking — it is defining it.
- CEO David Vélez is betting the next era on AI, deploying proprietary NuFormer models in live credit operations and an AI Private Banker already used by 15M people monthly.
- The U.S. looms as the next frontier, but Nubank is advancing carefully — new spending will only follow clear proof of product-market fit, echoing the discipline applied in Mexico and Colombia.
- The central tension now is whether the focused, capital-efficient playbook that conquered three Latin American markets can survive contact with entrenched, resource-rich competitors in the north.
Nubank opened 2026 with a quarter that validated its long-running bet on scale. Net income reached $871 million — up 41 percent from a year earlier — while revenues crossed $5 billion for the first time in the company's history. Since 2022, its compounded annual growth rate has exceeded 80 percent, and return on equity for the quarter stood at 29 percent. These are not the metrics of a company still searching for its model.
The customer base grew by roughly four million people during the quarter, reaching more than 135 million globally. Brazil, where Nubank began, accounts for over 115 million of those users and has made the company the country's largest private financial institution. Mexico has emerged as a strong second market with 15 million customers, and Colombia is approaching five million, with steady net additions each quarter.
Founder and CEO David Vélez framed the company's next phase squarely around artificial intelligence. Nubank has developed NuFormer, a suite of proprietary foundation models already running in production for credit card and lending operations in Brazil and Mexico. Its AI Private Banker feature, built on these models, is now used by more than 15 million people monthly — and Vélez credits AI with driving meaningful credit portfolio growth over the past year. 'We are rebuilding banking around AI,' he told investors.
The United States is next on the horizon, though Nubank is advancing with deliberate caution. Expansion northward will follow the same capital-efficient framework applied in Mexico and Colombia: additional investment only where product-market fit is clear and a path to profitable scaling is credible. What the quarter ultimately reveals is a company that has earned the right to grow — and is determined not to squander it.
Nubank closed out the first quarter of 2026 with numbers that vindicated its bet on scale. The fintech platform reported net income of $871 million for the three months ending March 31st—a jump of 41 percent from the same period a year earlier. Revenues crossed $5 billion for the first time in the company's history, a threshold that speaks to how thoroughly the platform has woven itself into the financial lives of its users across Latin America.
The growth trajectory tells its own story. Since 2022, Nubank's compounded annual growth rate has exceeded 80 percent. Return on equity for the quarter landed at 29 percent. These are not the numbers of a company still searching for its model. They are the numbers of a company that has found something that works and is scaling it methodically.
The customer base grew by roughly four million people during the quarter, bringing the total to more than 135 million users globally. Brazil, where Nubank began, now accounts for more than 115 million of those customers and has made the company the largest private financial institution in the country. Mexico has become the company's second major market, with more than 15 million customers and a position as the third-largest financial institution there. Colombia, the newest significant market, is approaching five million customers and showed what the company described as another solid quarter of net additions.
David Vélez, Nubank's founder and chief executive, framed the company's next phase around artificial intelligence. The company has built what it calls NuFormer, a set of proprietary foundation models that are already running in production for credit card operations in Brazil and Mexico, and for unsecured lending in Brazil. The AI Private Banker feature, which uses these models to interact with customers, is now being used by more than 15 million people each month. Vélez said these capabilities have been a significant driver of credit portfolio expansion over the past year. "We are rebuilding banking around AI," he told investors.
The United States represents the company's next frontier, though Nubank is approaching it with deliberate caution. The company said it is extending its model northward through what it called a measured and capital-efficient approach, designed to protect the core business while testing whether the opportunity in a new market can justify long-term investment. Any additional spending in the U.S. will be contingent on clear evidence of product-market fit and a credible path to profitable scaling—the same disciplined framework the company has applied in Mexico and Colombia.
What emerges from these results is a picture of a company that has moved beyond the startup phase into something more durable. Nubank is not chasing growth for its own sake. It is monetizing a massive user base, investing in technology that deepens customer relationships, and expanding into new markets only when the conditions are right. The question now is whether that discipline can hold as the company ventures into markets where it has no existing foothold and faces entrenched competitors with far deeper resources.
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We are rebuilding banking around AI— David Vélez, Nubank founder and CEO
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What does it mean that revenues crossed $5 billion for the first time? Is that just a milestone, or does it signal something structural about the business?
It signals that the monetization engine is working at scale. They're not just acquiring customers anymore—they're making money from them. Credit products, financial services, the ecosystem. That's the difference between a platform and a payment processor.
The AI Private Banker serving 15 million monthly users—is that a gimmick, or is it actually changing how the company operates?
It's changing the economics of customer service and credit decisions. Instead of hiring thousands of people to evaluate loan applications or answer questions, the model does it. That's how you maintain a 29 percent return on equity while growing at this speed.
Brazil has 115 million customers. That's almost half the country's population. How do you grow from there?
You don't, not in Brazil. You've won Brazil. The growth now comes from Mexico, Colombia, and the U.S. experiment. The question is whether the model that worked in Latin America translates elsewhere.
Why is Nubank being so cautious about the United States?
Because the U.S. is different. It's not underbanked the way parts of Latin America were. It has established players with deep roots. Nubank learned in Mexico and Colombia that you need product-market fit before you scale. They're not going to repeat the mistakes of other fintechs that burned cash chasing a market that didn't want them.
The 41 percent profit growth—is that sustainable?
Not at that rate forever. But the underlying metrics suggest the business is getting more efficient, not less. That matters more than any single quarter's number.