The news: Nu Holdings, the parent company of the Latin American mega-neobank Nubank, reported its Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings, with $16.3 billion in revenue and a $2.9 billion profit in 2025.

The company added 17 million customers globally in 2025, with active users totaling about 108.7 million. By comparison, Chime, the largest US neobank, had 2025 revenue of $535 million, a $1 billion net loss, and 9.5 million active members.

Zoom out: Nu’s entry into the US market seems inevitable after it appointed its cofounder as head of US operations. Nu has grown rapidly by entering Latin American countries with large-scale consumer and commercial segments inadequately served by legacy financial institutions. It just won conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a nationally chartered bank in the US and should launch in 2027.

Nu’s US roadmap mirrors much of its Latin American product lineup, which includes demand deposit accounts, credit cards, digital asset custody, and personal loans. That model will also directly compete with some of the largest fintechs in the US:

• Block has transformed Cash App from a P2P payment app to a digitally native bank, including with embedded buy now, pay later from the company’s Afterpay acquisition.
• Robinhood started as a commission-free brokerage app for millennial retail investors and has added crypto trading, banking capabilities, a credit card, and trading in prediction markets.
• SoFi is a $50+ billion digital retail bank with checking and savings accounts, self-directed brokerage and robo-advisory, credit cards, consumer loans, and blockchain-based payments.

Implications for banks: Banks face a period of uncertainty as fintech competition intensifies, but long-term impacts remain unclear. Chime’s rise sparked fears (which were likely overblown) about losing customers to consumer apps, but the threat remains.

Nu poses a significant threat to traditional banks targeting US customers of Latin American origin, who are underserved anyway. But its scale and financial resources mean it could also pivot to make inroads elsewhere in banking areas.