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INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY

The achievement reinforces the strategic importance of the Colombian operation within the company’ s international trajectory which has focused on diversifying its local portfolio with innovations designed specifically for the Colombian market mainly in credit offerings.

Colombia has become a key pillar in Nubank’ s regional expansion strategy as the company continues to scale digital financial services across LATAM. By adapting products to local needs Nubank aims to address long standing gaps in access to formal credit while maintaining a customer centric approach built on technology and simplicity.

Marcela Torres Country Manager of Nu Colombia highlights the significance of the milestone particularly when viewed in the context of Nubank’ s global operations.

“ Brazil, Mexico and Colombia reached the 3 million customer mark in the fourth year. But the feat is that Colombia’ s population represents a quarter of Brazil’ s population and 40 % of Mexico’ s population. In practice this means that Mexico is growing faster than Brazil and Colombia is growing faster than both.”

Torres said the factors behind the operation’ s accelerated performance include a highly qualified local team advanced proprietary technology and a value proposition that resonated strongly in a market characterised by high banking concentration and elevated fees. In Colombia only 35 % of the population has access to formal credit.

Nu Colombia has been engaging with regulators to demonstrate how these constraints reduce competition and‘ pushes’ consumers toward informal lenders.

“ We are pressuring for instant payments for the liberation of fees or at least for more freedom to define prices,” said Torres.

In a market that remains relatively homogeneous Nubank continues to expand its Colombian product portfolio to increase credit access. Alongside Moradita a no fee card the company offers NuControl designed to broaden inclusion within the interest rate ceiling.

Beyond similarities with other markets Colombia has specific characteristics that Nubank closely monitors. The country operates under the so called‘ usury rate’ an interest rate cap currently around 25 % which limits the ability of financial institutions to price additional risk when serving consumers with limited or no credit history, Torres said.

As a result, many potential customers are excluded from the formal financial system despite the policy’ s original intent. Torres summarises the effect saying“ it is a well-intentioned policy but in practice it ends up excluding precisely those it intended to protect.”

Brazil, Mexico and Colombia reached the 3 million customer mark in the fourth year.

“ We designed with the global teams a card that has a small fee much lower than the market average and that allows us to include not only 15 % of people but reach 40 %.”

Morada Abre Caminos targets consumers without credit history using gamification to help users manage finances while building a relationship with Nu and enabling future credit expansion.

In 2025 Nu Colombia also launched Préstamo Ligero and Préstamo Personal Nu while consolidating its digital account among the country’ s five largest deposit bases within one year. • www. intelligentcio. com

INTELLIGENT CIO LATAM

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