Nu Mexico grows customer base by 50% in 12 months and is already 3rd in cards issued in the country. „We now serve about one out of every four banked Mexicans.”

Nu Mexico registered an increase of over 50% in its customer base in the last 12 months, and is already the third largest financial institution in terms of credit cards issued and the sixth largest in terms of customers, considering banks and SOFIPOs in the country, according to a press release.

The data, referring to the close of the second quarter in June 2025, were highlighted by Guilherme Lago, Nubank CFO and Nu Mexico Board’s Chairman, in his first interview in this new role, on Nu Videocast. “We now serve about one out of every four banked Mexicans. It’s a phenomenal achievement for a very short period of time. But we are really only getting started,” said Lago.

Nu Mexico closed the second quarter of 2025 with 12 million customers, having been the first banking relationship for about 22% of them. These numbers, although very expressive for an operation of only six years, still do not reflect the full economic and impact potential in the region, Lago points out. “Mexico is certainly a long-term bet; however, that doesn’t mean a lack of financial discipline. The early signs of the business model in Mexico are very encouraging and prove that it works well and can scale in the country,” he noted.

The executive bases these points on Mexico’s economic and market reality. The country is the second-largest economy in Latin America, with a GDP per capita higher than Brazil’s, but has a banking penetration of approximately 50% (versus 90% in Brazil) and a credit card penetration of only 12% (less than a quarter of Brazil’s).

Lago states that the engagement curve and revenue per customer in Mexico have grown even faster than in Brazil at the same stage of business maturity. This occurs, according to him, because the company arrived in Mexico with six years of experience acquired in Brazil and a more assertive portfolio.

Two growth paths

The positive unit economics do not yet translate into profitability for the operation because Nubank continues to invest in its long-term growth thesis, explains Lago. Just as it did in Brazil, the company believes that building even stronger relationships with the existing base and attracting new customers is the most sustainable form of growth. The path to positive results, therefore, involves two horizons.

The first, according to Lago, is to offer better, simpler, and more accessible products for already banked Mexicans, further engaging the customer base. “We are working very heavily on this horizon today and we have a very good line of sight that we will end up with a very relevant market share, with a return on equity that is at par, if not better, than the one that we have in Brazil,” he projects.

The second is to conquer the unbanked portion of the country, which, he reports, is more than half of Mexico’s population. “We are very excited about the opportunity to provide those solutions to Mexicans and be able to share a little bit of our experience here, building what we believe can be the largest franchise of digital banking in Latin America,” he says.

The company is successfully implementing proven strategies, such as the “low and grow” credit approach, which consists of starting customers with modest credit limits and increasing them as more data is collected. This method fosters conservative credit granting and promotes financial education.

Banking license drives growth strategy

A fundamental milestone for this expansion strategy was the approval, in April 2025, of the license for Nu to operate as a bank by Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV). This license will allow the offering of new products and services, such as payroll portability, a product that, according to Lago, “can start to more quickly shift from being an active customer to a primary banking relationship customer.” Only 36% of adults in the country have this financial instrument (National Financial Inclusion Survey, 2024), with almost 90% concentrated in just five banks.

The license also brings deposit insurance, which, for Lago, allows Nu to “share more solidity and trust to earn the right to be the primary banking relationship of customers.” Furthermore, regulatory approval will enable entry into new segments, such as Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), considered strategic. “We learned, not only in Brazil but in other countries, that there is a lot of synergy and symbiosis between the customer and SME ecosystem sides,” he added.

“We are here to build the largest financial institution in Mexico over the next decade, and we are fully committed to doing so responsibly and progressively,” concluded Lago.