BC approves purchase of bank by Nubank, which will now have a banking license in Brazil

Pelotas (RS) Nubank announced this Friday (13) that the Central Bank approved the purchase of Banco Porto Real de Investimentos. With the acquisition, the digital bank will have a banking license in Brazil, complying with the legislation that governs the use of the nomenclature "bank" by financial institutions.

With BC approval, the operation will be completed in the next few days, stated Nubank, which had announced the purchase of Porto Real in July. The license will be added to the three with which the bank already operates in the country: Payment Institution, Credit, Financing and Investment Society (Finance) and Securities Broker (CTVM), the company stated.

"The inclusion of the new license in the Nu PayPals S.A. prudential conglomerate does not impose additional capital or liquidity requirements," said Nubank in a press release.

The acquired bank is named after its headquarters city. Founded in 1992 in Porto Real (RJ), the institution operates in granting credit to wholesale customers, that is, loans to large companies.

According to data reported by the institution and made available by the BC, in March Porto Real had R$32.1 million in assets and just R$727 thousand in liabilities, generating a net worth of R$31.4 million.

The bank's credit portfolio totaled R$9.78 million in the first quarter. Most of it is in working capital lines — short-term loans to make up cash.

The institution belongs to the Tarquinio Monteiro da Costa family, owner of the extinct Companhia Fluminense de Refrigerantes, a company that bottled Coca-Cola in Brazil until it was acquired by the Mexican group Femsa, in 2013, for US$448 million at the time.

In addition to Banco Porto Real, the family continues in other businesses, especially in the real estate sector.

In March this year, Nubank joined Febraban (Brazilian Federation of Banks), anticipating the movement.

Brazil is Nubank's main market, which began operations in the United States this year. In the host country, the company has close to 120 million customers. In Colombia, there are more than 5 million and in Mexico, more than 16 million. In total, the bank had 142.6 million customers globally, an annual increase of 12%.

Nubank had a net profit of US$1.1 billion (R$5.7 billion) in the third quarter of this year, the bank announced this Thursday (12), amid growth in the bank's loans and credit cards.

The result is 31% higher than that recorded in the same period last year, and 5% higher than the previous quarter.

X-RAY | NUBANK

Founded: 2013

Net profit in the 3rd quarter: US$ 1.1 billion

Customers (global): 143 million

Employees: more than 9,500

Main competitors: Revolut, PicPay, Mercado Pago, Bradesco, Santander, Banco do Brasil, Itaú, PagBank, Inter

With information Reuters