Nubank takes aim at the U.S.

Hey!

Nubank just applied for a U.S. banking charter, taking its first step to expand beyond Latin America. It’s a bold move…and one that many international neobanks have tried before. Revolut, Europe’s largest neobank, entered the U.S. in 2020, but has struggled to gain traction.

Despite being lumped together as “neobanks,” Revolut and Nubank are very different. Revolut rose to prominence in Europe with a sleek app and a free debit card with no FX fees, a formula that worked well at home, but failed to stand out in a market dominated by Cash App and Chime.

Nubank, meanwhile, built its business around credit. It started by offering credit cards to underserved Brazilians, and lending remains its core engine today. Revolut still makes most of its money from interchange and FX fees; Nubank earns it from loans.

Nubank also has something Revolut didn’t: a built-in customer base. The company already serves Latin Americans living in the U.S.

Will Nubank succeed in the U.S.? Hard to say. But if I had to bet, I’m more bullish on Nubank than on Revolut. Let’s dive in!

Jevgenijs
p.s. if you have feedback, just reply to this email or ping me on X/Twitter

Nubank’s investments in Jupiter (India) and Tyme (South Africa and the Philippines) suggested the company might expand into emerging markets similar to its home region. Instead, Nubank has surprised many by applying for a national bank charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, choosing to pursue the most lucrative, and arguably the most competitive, market in the world.

Nubank is arguably the most successful neobank outside of Asia. It now serves over 60% of Brazil’s adult population and is rapidly scaling in Mexico and Colombia. Yet, Nubank isn’t the first to set its sights on the U.S. market. Nearly every major European neobank has tried to expand there, with limited success. Revolut, for example, launched in the U.S. in 2020, but has made little visible progress since.

And Revolut is no lightweight. In Europe, they have done what many tried, but no one else managed - building a truly pan-European retail banking franchise. The company is now expanding aggressively beyond Europe, aiming to reach 100 million customers by 2027, with operations spanning the U.S., India, Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

Revolut finished 2024 with 52 million retail customers, £30 billion ($38 billion) in customer balances, £3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) in revenue, and £790 million ($1 billion) in net profit. By mid-2025, the company had passed the 60 million customers milestone, and is reportedly on track to deliver £4.1 billion ($5.2 billion) in revenue in 2025.

A quick look at Revolut’s journey: the company launched in the UK in 2015 and secured a banking license in Lithuania in 2018, which it passported across the EU. It began expanding beyond Europe in 2019 (Singapore and Australia), followed by the U.S. in 2020, and Brazil and New Zealand in 2023. In 2024, Revolut finally obtained a long-awaited UK banking license, though it has yet to make it operational.

Like Nubank, Revolut began by solving a specific local pain point: banks overcharging customers when they traveled abroad. It launched as a travel card with a sleek mobile app and zero foreign transaction fees. Since then, Revolut has expanded far beyond travel, now offering multi-currency accounts and FX, free physical, virtual, and one-time debit cards, as well as stock and crypto trading.

Revolut has also started opening local branches across Europe to provide customers with domestic account numbers. It offers paid subscription plans with perks such as metal cards, free trades, and access to digital service bundles, alongside its loyalty program, RevPoints. More recently, Revolut has entered the lending space, rolling out credit cards and even mortgages.

Just like its consumer business, Revolut has steadily expanded its offering for small businesses, evolving into a full-service banking platform. Having served business customers since its early days, Revolut now provides multi-currency accounts, FX services, and corporate cards, alongside newer features like bill payments, Revolut Terminal (for in-person payments), Revolut Pay (for online checkout), savings products under Flexible Cash Funds, and even an HR platform called Revolut People.

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