Nu México, the subsidiary of Nubank, the largest financial technology (fintech) firm in Latin America, grew its customer base by over 50% in the last year, reaching 12 million users in Mexico by the end of the second quarter of 2025. 

With this figure, the company ranked sixth in the number of clients within the Mexican financial system. These include traditional banks and Sofipos, which are financial institutions in Mexico that serve people without access to traditional banking. 

Nu was founded in Brazil in 2013 and entered the Mexican market in 2019. It began by offering consumers a no-fee credit card, backed by investors that included Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm. According to data released by the firm, 22% percent of its customer base are people who joined the formal financial system for the first time via Nu.

In an interview with Nu Videocast, Guilherme Lago, CFO of Nubank and Chairman of the Board of Nu Mexico, said that operations in Mexico show stronger indicators than those of Brazil at the same stage of development.  

“Today, we serve one in four banked Mexicans. It’s a phenomenal achievement in a very short period of time. But we’re just getting started,” he stated. 

For Lago, Mexico represents a key market as it is the second-largest economy in Latin America. It has a higher GDP per capita than Brazil, but with a lower rate of banking and credit card use: around 50% of Mexico’s population does not currently have a credit card.  

Nu ranks third in the number of credit cards in circulation 

As of the end of June, data from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) revealed that there were over 37.1 million credit cards in circulation in Mexico, marking the highest number on record. These figures show that Mexico’s credit card portfolio expanded by 1.8 million new accounts over the past year, up 5.1% compared to the same period of 2024. 

In this context, Nu reported that it had reached 6.6 million credit card customers in Mexico – 52% more than the same period last year, making it the third financial institution in Mexico with the greatest number of credit cards in circulation, just after BBVA México (10.7 million credit cards) and Banamex (9.2. million credit cards).

The increasing use of credit cards by Mexican families is associated with times of economic pressure, such as the back-to-school season. According to HSBC, back-to-school shopping is one of the periods when credit cards are most commonly used, alongside the Christmas season and the Buen Fin (Mexico’s version of Black Friday).

With reports from Grupo En Concreto, La Jornada and El Universal