Nubank has agreed to buy Banco Porto Real de Investimentos to secure a full banking licence in Brazil.
Established in 1992 in Porto Real, Rio de Janeiro, Banco Porto Real focuses on providing credit to wholesale clients.
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The move, subject to approval by Brazil’s Central Bank, aligns Nubank with Joint Resolution No. 17 guidelines on institutional naming.
After the process is concluded, Banco Porto Real’s banking licence will join Nubank’s existing payment institution, finance company, and securities brokerage licences.
Nubank said Banco Porto Real’s existing obligations will be honoured under the terms laid out in the acquisition agreement.
It also said adding the new licence to the Nu Pagamentos conglomerate does not create extra capital or liquidity requirements.
For Nubank’s 115 million customers in Brazil, there will be no changes to the app, products, services, brand or the institution’s name.
In March, Nubank became a member of Febraban, the Brazilian Federation of Banks.
The company also said it would invest R$45bn ($8.84bn) in the domestic market this year, almost twice the amount allocated over the previous two years.
Nubank global CEO and founder David Vélez said: “Brazil is where Nubank was born, grew, and proved that fairer, simpler financial services are possible at scale. Thirteen years later, it remains our main focus, a market where we can still significantly expand our share and continue driving the transformation of the sector.”
In April last year, Nu Mexico, the Mexican subsidiary of Nubank, received a banking licence approval from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV).
The development allows Nu Mexico to transition from a Popular Financial Society (SOFIPO) to a fully-fledged bank.
