Tencent & Goldman Sachs support Nubank`s expansion — already 8.5million customers

Last October, the Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent Holdings Limited, better known as ‘Tencent’ invested $180 million in Brazilian digital bank and credit card operator ‘NuBank’ (Nu Pagamentos SA). [1]

This FinTech pioneer, an early mover in Latin America’s largest market offering fee-free credit cards and digital payment accounts, has recently obtained clearance from Brazilian Central Bank to offer loans to its customers. With a total of $330 million raised since it was founded in 2013 by Sequoia Capital ex-partner David Vélez, Nubank is one of the best-funded start-ups in Brazil. In 2016 despite the political and economic problems in Brazil, Goldman Sachs invested in Nubank by providing them a loan of 200 million reais ($50 million) using a receivables securitization structure.

To date, [1] Nubank has issued 5 million credit cards and served over 8.5 million customers. It’s business model rests on providing a streamlined, transparent service to customers wish to avoid the bureaucratic and heavily administrative practices of established banks. The neobank’s systems, mainly rooted online and in a mobile application, allow users to make transfers, pay bills and earn interest on deposits.