Nubank has received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a national bank, a step that allows the fintech to offer deposits, lending, credit cards and digital asset custody in the United States.
The approval moves Nubank into the bank organization phase, during which it must meet capitalization and supervisory conditions and secure additional approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve before launching operations.
According to a company announcement on Friday, the US bank will be led by co-founder Cristina Junqueira, with former Central Bank of Brazil president Roberto Campos Neto serving as board chair. Nubank said it aims to fully capitalize and open the bank within 18 months, subject to regulatory approval.
Nubank operates primarily in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, serving more than 127 million customers across the countries, according to the company. It was founded in 2013 and has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 2021.
The fintech has steadily expanded into digital assets in recent years.
The company entered the crypto market in 2022 after partnering with Paxos to let customers buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies directly within its app. At the time, the company also disclosed plans to allocate about 1% of its net assets to Bitcoin (BTC).
In March, Nubank expanded its crypto lineup in Brazil by adding Cardano (ADA), Near Protocol (NEAR), Cosmos (ATOM) and Algorand (ALGO) to its trading offering, bringing the total number of supported tokens to 20.
In September, it announced plans to test dollar-pegged stablecoin payments linked to credit cards as part of an effort to integrate digital assets with traditional banking services.
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Fintechs, crypto companies seek US banking licenses
Nubank’s push for a US banking charter mirrors a broader trend among fintech and crypto companies toward regulated banking licenses.
Stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto company Ripple Labs received conditional approval from the OCC in December to establish US national trust banks. The agency also cleared the conversions of BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos Trust Company into national trust banks,
On Jan. 23, crypto-friendly fintech Revolut disclosed plans to apply for a US banking license. The London-based company was valued at about $75 billion following a share sale in November.
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