A neobank with nearly 9 million customers across 24 national markets, Germany’s N26 is finally rolling out operations in Brazil.
It may be a little strange to use such a term to describe the fintech’s latest move, but it is precisely what is happening since the Berlin-based brand first announced it was studying the local market and asking the Central Bank for authorization as a Direct Credit Society (SCD) between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020.
The original idea was to launch by mid-2020, but even before the pandemic hit, chief executive Eduardo Prota said they had realized that they needed a different strategy in order to compete with local players. This strategy was only revealed in 2021, when the fintech started positioning itself as a “fincare company,” that is, a bank dedicated to helping Brazilians take care of their financial life.
Indeed, only 35 percent of Brazilians are considered financially literate, per S&P Global’s financial literacy index.
That blind spot also affects younger generations. According to the latest PISA assessment, some 44 percent of students in Brazil failed to reach the...