World’s Best Digital Bank goes to Nubank

Published on 9 March 2024
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World’s Best Digital Bank goes to Nubank

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Nubank was named the World's Best Digital Bank. Nubank climbed from 10th to first position in the World’s Top 100 Digital Banks Ranking since 2022, setting a global benchmark for digital banks by balancing profitability with customer growth. In 2023, it achieved full-year profitability for the first time, with a net income of $1 billion, the largest ever for a stand-alone digital bank, marking a significant milestone for the bank.

An 83% monthly digital active user rate and a 10.2% risk-adjusted net interest margin for its loan book in the fourth quarter of 2023 demonstrate effective credit risk management and customer engagement. Since 2014, Nubank evolved from an innovative credit card startup into a leading digital bank, challenging the inefficiencies of traditional banking with a digital, customer-centric model in Brazil. There, where five banks dominated the market with high fees and poor service, Vélez, alongside co-founders Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible, introduced a disruptive digital model expanding across Brazil and steadily into Mexico and Colombia.

Transitioning to a multi-product strategy around 2020, Nubank experienced explosive user growth, reaching close to 94 million users in 2023, mainly in Brazil, with a 90% digital activity rate. The bank grew its total revenue by 85% year on year and demonstrated strong operational efficiency, improving the CIR from 66% in 2022 to 36% in 2023 with just a 1% increase in total operating expenses. The users-per-staff ratio also significantly improved as the bank added an average of 1.6 million customers monthly in 2023 while reducing staff from 8,000 to 7,700.

Nubank displayed robust credit risk management with significant operating income growth and a record 10.2% risk-adjusted net interest margin in the fourth quarter of 2023, despite higher non-performing loans. Additionally, the bank stood out in customer satisfaction, achieving a Net Promoter Score of 90%.

For the full assessment, visit World’s Best Digital Banks Ranking.