Build in-house: a proprietary transaction foundation model (nuFormer) at the centre of underwriting, support and growth decisions, stated as an 'AI-first' vision since Q3 2025, with the CEO now on OpenAI's boards.
How is Nubank using AI?
Nubank's AI strategy centres on nuFormer, its in-house foundation model for financial behaviour. It launched for Brazilian credit-card underwriting in late 2025 and by Q2 2026 was in production for cards in Brazil and Mexico and unsecured loans in Brazil, while Nu said AI agents handled more than 60% of Brazilian support conversations. Nu had 139 million customers at June 30, 2026, opened in the US through Lead Bank in September 2026, and CEO David Vélez joined OpenAI's boards in July 2026.
Category
Neobank
Founded
2013
Headquarters
São Paulo, Brazil
Licence and supervision
Brazil: payment institution (Nu Pagamentos S.A.), credit, financing and investment company and securities brokerage, supervised by the Banco Central do Brasil, with a bank licence pending through the agreed purchase of Banco Porto Real de Investimentos (July 2026); Mexico: Nu México operates as a commercial bank since August 6, 2026 (CNBV authorization July 10, 2026); US: OCC conditional approval (January 29, 2026) for Nubank, N.A., still pending FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals, with US products live since September 2026 through partner bank Lead Bank.
Scale
139 million customers globally and $1.1 billion of quarterly net income in Q2 2026 (quarter to June 30, 2026)
Flagship platform
nuFormer
AI leadership
David Vélez · Eric Young · Rohan Ramanath · Carl Rivera · Cristina Junqueira
- nuFormer, Nu's proprietary self-supervised foundation model, launched in late 2025 for credit-card underwriting in Brazil; Nu credited it with its largest quarterly gain in credit-card market share in 10 quarters, and by Q2 2026 it was in production for cards in Brazil and Mexico and unsecured lending in Brazil, with SME and Colombian cards in testing.
- Nu's Q2 2026 release says AI agents handle more than 60% of customer-support conversations in Brazil 'at or above human parity'; in May 2025 Vélez had put the figures at about 30% of code written with AI and 50% of customer-service needs covered by AI tools, adding that there had been no layoffs.
- Nu acquired Hyperplane, a San Francisco start-up building foundation models for banks, in June 2024 (price undisclosed); Hyperplane co-founder Rohan Ramanath now runs Nu's AI Core unit.
- Nu says it is building an 'AI Private Banker' to help customers organise finances, manage debt and make credit decisions; individual features, in testing for 6 to 12 months, were used by over 15 million monthly active users as of June 2026, with a packaged version 'expected soon'.
- Since Q3 2025 Nu has described its vision as becoming 'AI-first', integrating foundation models into operations to build 'an AI-native interface to banking'.
- CEO David Vélez joined the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC on July 21, 2026; Nu also offers its customers free ChatGPT Go subscriptions (one month to one year, depending on tier) under a partnership with OpenAI announced in February 2026.
- 2026 licensing moves reshape the regulatory perimeter: OCC conditional approval for Nubank, N.A. (January), Nu México operating as a bank (August 6), a US launch through Lead Bank (September 10) and an agreed purchase of Banco Porto Real to hold a Brazilian bank licence (July).
What is nuFormer?
Nu's proprietary self-supervised foundation model for financial behaviour, trained on transaction histories. American Banker reports it launched for credit-card underwriting in Brazil in late 2025; Nu's Q2 2026 release says it is in production across three portfolios (credit cards in Brazil and Mexico, unsecured lending in Brazil) with SME and Colombian cards in testing, and that its latest generation quadrupled context length, training speed and inference speed. Nu says nuFormer now powers underwriting, customer service and growth decisions, and is the base of an 'AI Private Banker' whose individual features are used by over 15 million monthly active users.[2][15][1]
What has Nubank done on AI, and when?
- Sep 10, 2026
Nu launches in the United States[6][18]
Nu began US operations with a 3.50% APY Nu Account (deposits held at FDIC-insured partner Lead Bank), a no-annual-fee Mastercard credit card and fee-free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, and introduced Nu Global, a multi-currency account, while its own charter awaits final approval.
- Aug 13, 2026
Q2 2026: nuFormer in three portfolios, AI agents above 60% of support[2]
Net income passed $1 billion ($1.1 billion) for the first time with 139 million customers; the latest nuFormer generation quadrupled context length, training and inference speed, and AI agents handled more than 60% of Brazilian support conversations.
- Aug 6, 2026
- Jul 22, 2026
Nubank agrees to buy Banco Porto Real for a Brazilian bank licence[19]
The purchase, which needs Banco Central do Brasil approval, lets Nubank meet Joint Resolution No. 17 on how financial institutions may be named; the licence will sit alongside Nu's payment-institution, credit-financing and brokerage permissions, with no change for its 115 million Brazilian customers.
- Jul 21, 2026
- Jun 11, 2026
Nu sets out its AI strategy and the 'AI Private Banker'[1]
CTO Eric Young and AI Core head Rohan Ramanath said nuFormer is live in Nu's largest Brazilian credit segment, that its research lab cut experiment cycles from months to a day, and that AI Private Banker features in testing are used by over 15 million monthly active users.
- Feb 25, 2026
Q4 2025: nuFormer credited with market-share gain[15]
Reporting full-year 2025 revenue of $16.3 billion and net income of $2.9 billion, Nu said nuFormer, launched in late 2025 for credit underwriting in Brazil, drove its largest quarterly gain in credit-card market share in 10 quarters, with expansion planned to Brazilian lending and Mexican cards.
- Feb 23, 2026
Nubank and OpenAI partner on ChatGPT Go for customers[10]
All Nubank customers get one month of ChatGPT Go free, Nubank+ customers three months and Ultravioleta customers one year, promoted in a national advertising campaign.
- Jan 29, 2026
OCC grants conditional approval for Nubank, N.A.[4]
The de novo national bank still needed FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals, full capitalisation within 12 months and opening within 18 months; co-founder Cristina Junqueira leads the US business and former Brazilian central bank president Roberto Campos Neto chairs its board.
- Nov 13, 2025
Q3 2025: Nu states an 'AI-first' vision[3]
With 127 million customers and $783 million of net income in the quarter, Vélez said Nu's vision is to become AI-first, integrating foundation models deeply into operations to drive an AI-native interface to banking.
- Sep 30, 2025
Nubank applies for a US national bank charter[5]
Nu applied to the OCC for a national bank charter, saying it would eventually offer deposit accounts, credit cards, lending and digital asset custody in the US.
- May 22, 2025
CEO: 30% of code written with AI, 50% of service needs covered[14]
In a Bloomberg interview published by American Banker, Vélez said Nu had halved its management layers, that about 30% of code was done with AI and 50% of customer-service needs were covered by AI tools, and that there had been no layoffs.
- Jun 26, 2024
Nubank acquires AI start-up Hyperplane[13]
Hyperplane, a San Francisco data-intelligence start-up founded in 2022 that builds foundation models for banks' first-party data, announced its acquisition by Nubank; the price was not disclosed. Vélez said the deal would help customers 'receive truly customized financial advice'.
Where does Nubank use AI today?
| System | What it does | Status | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| nuFormer underwriting[2][15] | Foundation-model underwriting in production for credit cards in Brazil and Mexico and unsecured lending in Brazil; SME lending and Colombian cards in testing (Q2 2026). | In production | Credit scoring & underwriting |
| AI customer-support agents[2][12] | AI agents handle more than 60% of customer-support conversations in Brazil at or above human parity, per Nu's Q2 2026 release; Nu engineers describe the goal as agents capable of handling debt renegotiation, card logistics and fraud prevention. | In production | Customer-facing chatbots |
| Pix by voice, text and image (app and WhatsApp)[9] | Generative AI lets customers send Pix transfers by audio, text or image message in the app or on WhatsApp; tested by 2 million WhatsApp users before expanding in December 2024. | Rolling out | Generative & agentic AI |
| AI Private Banker[1] | A set of AI capabilities to help customers organise finances, manage debt and make credit decisions; individual features in testing are used by over 15 million monthly active users, with a packaged version expected. | Pilot | Generative & agentic AI |
| AI in risk and fraud-loss reduction[3] | Nu says AI is strengthening how it manages risk, 'reducing credit and fraud losses' and enabling tailored collection strategies. | In production | Fraud detection |
| AI-assisted development[14][1] | About 30% of code was done with AI as of May 2025; Nu cites a backend architecture project accelerated by nearly a year through AI-assisted development. | In production | AI-generated code & coding agents |
| Company-wide AI tooling[1][8] | Every employee has access to AI prototyping tools and Nu measures use and impact across functions; Nu says employees keep full human oversight as workflows are reinvented. | In production | AI governance (general) |
Use-case links open the tracker's rules-by-use-case matrix: which documents govern each system type.
What has Nubank disclosed in numbers?
| Metric | Value | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | 139 million globally (almost 118 million in Brazil, 15.8 million in Mexico, over 5 million in Colombia)[2] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Q2 2026 net income / ROE | $1.1 billion (up 49% YoY); ROE 33%[2] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Support conversations handled by AI agents (Brazil) | more than 60%[2] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Code written with AI / service needs covered by AI | about 30% / 50%[14] | May 22, 2025 |
| AI Private Banker feature users | over 15 million monthly active users[1] | Jun 11, 2026 |
| Average revenue per active customer | approximately US$16 in Q1'26, vs roughly US$40 at incumbent banks (Nu's comparison)[1] | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Total credit portfolio | $39.4 billion (up 37% YoY)[2] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Pix on WhatsApp test | 2 million customers since October 2024; in-app AI Pix up to 60% faster[9] | Dec 10, 2024 |
“Internally and externally, we think artificial intelligence is the most important technology transformation in our history.”[16]
David Vélez · Founder and CEO · Aug 13, 2026
“Better models don’t just reduce losses. They allow us to safely and responsibly extend credit to a larger number of people. That is inclusion and profitability in one move.”[1]
Rohan Ramanath · General Manager of AI Core · Jun 11, 2026
“Our vision is to become AI-first, which means integrating foundation models deeply into our operations to drive an AI-native interface to banking, while creating meaningful benefits for both our customers and our business”[3]
David Vélez · Founder and CEO · Nov 13, 2025
“We would rather define the standard than wait and react.”[1]
Eric Young · Chief Technology Officer · Jun 11, 2026
Who runs AI at Nubank?
David Vélez
Founder, Chairman and Global CEO; board member of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC since July 2026[2][17]
Eric Young
Chief Technology Officer (since August 2025; previously SVP Engineering at Snap and VP Engineering at Google)[11][1]
Carl Rivera
Chief Product Officer (joined May 2026)[8]
Which regulators govern Nubank's AI?
| Authority | Why it matters here | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Banco Central do Brasil | Supervises Nu's Brazilian payment institution, credit-financing company and brokerage, where nuFormer underwrites cards and unsecured loans; must approve the Banco Porto Real purchase that gives Nu a bank licence under Joint Resolution No. 17. | |
| Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (Mexico) | Authorized Nu México to operate as a commercial bank (July 10, 2026; live August 6); nuFormer is in production for Mexican credit cards. | |
| OCC | Granted conditional approval on January 29, 2026 for Nubank, N.A., a de novo national bank that must be capitalised within 12 months and opened within 18 months before final approval. | |
| FDIC | FDIC approval is still pending for Nubank, N.A.; until then US deposits are held at FDIC-insured partner Lead Bank. | |
| Federal Reserve | Federal Reserve approval is one of the pending conditions before Nubank, N.A. can open. | |
| CFPB | Since September 2026 Nu offers US consumers a deposit account and the Nu Credit Card, bringing its US credit decisions under ECOA/Regulation B adverse-action rules. | ECOA / Regulation B adverse action (15 U.S.C. 1691(d); 12 CFR 1002.9) |
Linked authorities have a page in the AI Regulation Tracker; the others are named for completeness and not yet tracked.
What does the public record suggest about Nubank's AI strategy?
Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice.
01
The model is the moat Nu describes, not a vendor
Nu's flagship AI is a proprietary foundation model trained on its own transaction data, and its 2024 Hyperplane purchase brought in the people who now run AI Core. OpenAI features in the record as a board seat and a customer perk, not as the engine behind underwriting.
02
Underwriting is where AI touches the balance sheet
nuFormer moved from one Brazilian card portfolio (late 2025) to three portfolios by Q2 2026. The same period saw Nu's cost of credit rise year on year, so the model's effect is best read against credit results each quarter rather than the launch claims.
03
Support automation rose from 50% to more than 60% in about a year
Vélez put AI coverage of customer-service needs at 50% in May 2025; the Q2 2026 release says AI agents handle more than 60% of Brazilian support conversations. Nu reported no layoffs alongside the first figure.
04
Three licensing changes in one year
A Mexican bank licence, a conditional US national-bank charter and an agreed purchase to obtain a Brazilian bank licence all came in 2026, moving nuFormer-driven credit decisions further into bank-level supervision.
05
The CEO's OpenAI board seat is a governance link, not a disclosed product deal
Vélez joined OpenAI's boards in July 2026 and called it a source of 'insight'; the public record shows a customer-facing ChatGPT Go promotion but no disclosed OpenAI role in nuFormer or underwriting.
How does Nubank use AI?
Nubank's main AI system is nuFormer, a proprietary foundation model trained on customer transaction histories. As of Q2 2026 it underwrites credit cards in Brazil and Mexico and unsecured loans in Brazil, and Nu says it also drives customer-service and growth decisions. AI agents handle more than 60% of customer-support conversations in Brazil, and Nu is testing an 'AI Private Banker' whose features already reach over 15 million monthly active users.
What is nuFormer?
nuFormer is Nubank's in-house, self-supervised foundation model for financial behaviour. It launched for credit-card underwriting in Brazil in late 2025, and Nu said it drove its largest quarterly gain in credit-card market share in 10 quarters. By Q2 2026 it was in production across three portfolios, with SME and Colombian cards in testing, and its latest generation quadrupled context length, training speed and inference speed.
Does Nubank use OpenAI or ChatGPT?
Nubank partners with OpenAI to give its customers free ChatGPT Go subscriptions, from one month for all customers to a year for Ultravioleta customers (announced February 2026), and CEO David Vélez joined the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC in July 2026. Its core credit model, nuFormer, is built in-house.
Did Nubank replace staff with AI?
Nubank has not announced AI-driven layoffs. In May 2025 Vélez said about 30% of code was done with AI and 50% of customer-service needs were covered by AI tools, which reduced the need for larger hiring plans, but that there had been no layoffs and none were planned. By Q2 2026 AI agents handled more than 60% of Brazilian support conversations.
Is Nubank a bank?
It depends on the country. In Brazil, Nu operates as a payment institution, credit-financing company and brokerage, and in July 2026 agreed to buy Banco Porto Real to gain a bank licence. Nu México has operated as a commercial bank since August 6, 2026. In the US, Nubank, N.A. has OCC conditional approval; the products launched in September 2026 are offered with partner Lead Bank.
Who regulates Nubank?
The Banco Central do Brasil supervises Nu's Brazilian entities, Mexico's CNBV supervises Nu México, and in the US the OCC granted conditional approval for Nubank, N.A. in January 2026, with FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals still pending. Nu served 139 million customers across these markets at June 30, 2026.
Is Nubank available in the United States?
Yes. On September 10, 2026 Nu launched a US Nu Account paying 3.50% APY, with deposits held at FDIC-insured partner Lead Bank, plus a Nu Credit Card on Mastercard and fee-free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Its own national bank, Nubank, N.A., received OCC conditional approval in January 2026 and has not yet opened.
- Nubank details AI transformation strategy built on data, foundation models, and democratized financial advice
- Nu Holdings Ltd. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
- Nu Holdings Ltd. Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results
- Nu Secures Approval to Establish US National Bank
- Nubank Applies for U.S. National Bank Charter
- Nu takes next step in international expansion with launch in the United States and introduction of Nu Global
- Nu Mexico to operate as a bank from August 6
- New CPO Carl Rivera outlines how AI-personalized experiences will enable Nubank's new phases of expansion
- Customers can transfer money by giving commands using audio, text, and image messages
- Nubank highlights the benefits of ChatGPT Go in a new campaign
- Nubank appoints Eric Young as Chief Technology Officer
- Building AI agents for 131 million customers
- Nubank acquires AI-for-banks startup Hyperplane
- Nu cuts management layers and plans C-suite hiring, CEO says
- Nubank reports 45% revenue increase in latest earnings
- Nubank's quarterly income hits $1 billion for the first time
- OpenAI appoints two new members to board of directors
- Nu Partners With Lead Bank to Launch Full US Banking Suite
- Nubank to acquire Banco Porto Real for banking licence
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