Tech Roundup: Digital bank competition heats up

This week. Revolut, a new heavyweight competitor for Nubank, arrives in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro tries – again – to enter the delivery app business. And what has been the downside to the fintech boom in Latin America? 

A new heavyweight competitor for Nubank?

Revolut, known as the most popular digital bank in Europe and present in 35 countries, is coming to Brazil. This week, the British fintech announced that Glauber Mota, one of the executives responsible for creating BTG Pactual’s digital bank, would head the operation in the country.

Heavyweight. With 18 million customers worldwide, Revolut is challenging Nubank to be the most valuable digital bank in the world. In its last investment round, the former was valued at USD 33 billion. 

• Nubank, which has 54 million customers, currently has a valuation of USD 36.9 billion.

Late to the party? For some experts, the British company has arrived late to an extremely competitive fintech and neobanking market that is not very easy for foreign banks to break. The main players in Brazil, besides Nubank, are Inter, Neon, C6, iti, and Next. They combined for more than 110 million users.

• Earlier this year, German digital bank N26 entered the Brazilian market, but has thus far failed to make a splash.
• Other international banks have taken the partnership route, such as Spain’s BBVA – which has an almost 30-percent stake in Neon – and JPMorgan Chase, which owns 40 percent of C6 Bank.

Strategy. Glauber Mota recognized the challenge faced, but believes that Brazil can become one of Revolut’s top 5 markets. Per a statement released by Mr. Mota, Revolut is poised to target very high-income clients concerned with the issues he laid out:

• “When traveling abroad and shopping online, Brazilians still need to use credit cards and currency exchange brokers, incurring high fees. This represents an enormous opportunity, and the Revolut product offering is unbeatable for Brazilians who continue...