Nu Mexico has cleared the biggest regulatory hurdle in its history. The National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) has formally approved the company's conversion from a SOFIPO — a popular financial services entity — into a fully licensed bank, in a process overseen jointly with the Bank of Mexico and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.

The decision does more than change a legal classification. It confirms Nu as the largest digital bank in Mexico, with a customer base above 15 million — roughly 15% of the country's adult population — and signals that the app-first model its Brazilian parent Nubank brought to the market in 2019 has passed its most demanding institutional test.

From SOFIPO to fully licensed bank

The conversion is unusual: rather than acquiring an existing bank or applying for a charter from scratch, Nu has taken an operating SOFIPO through the transformation into a banking entity — a route its local leadership describes as unprecedented.

For founder and Group CEO David Vélez, the authorisation is validation of a longer thesis: that financial services in Mexico can be rebuilt around people rather than branches, and that the model has the potential to reshape how millions manage their money. Mexico, he stresses, is a decisive market in Nubank's international strategy, and the group is backing that conviction with a projected US$4.2bn of total investment in the country through 2030.

Armando Herrera, CEO of Nu Mexico, frames the milestone as a shared one, crediting the millions of Mexicans who trusted the platform with their money along the way. With the licence secured, he and the regional leadership team will now steer how that capital commitment is deployed across future initiatives.

A licence earned on the numbers

The approval arrives on the back of a period of visible financial strengthening rather than promise alone. In the first quarter of 2026, the Mexican business reached financial breakeven while improving its efficiency ratio by 78% — evidence that scale is now translating into operating discipline.

Deposits tell a similar story. Mexican customers now hold more than US$5.9bn with Nu, a figure that both underwrites the bank's lending ambitions and demonstrates the kind of durable trust regulators look for when granting a full charter.

Growth built on inclusion

Since debuting its first product in 2020 — a no-fee credit card with flexible repayment — Nu has grown at a clip few incumbent banks can match, adding around 12,000 new customers every day and reaching 98% of Mexico's municipalities through its app.

The product shelf has widened steadily: personal loans, secured credit cards and the Cuenta Nu savings account now sit alongside the original card. The company has layered on protective and yield-focused tools too, from its Scam Alert fraud feature to Cajita Turbo, which boosts returns on customer balances.

The inclusion effect is measurable. More than half of Nu's Mexican customers — 54% — received their first-ever credit card through the platform, while 60% have built savings habits on it. In a market where large swathes of the population have historically sat outside formal finance, those figures are arguably the licence's strongest justification.

The growth and the authorisation confirm the same thing: a people-centred model can change how millions relate to their money. — On what the licence validates

A 30-day transition, no disruption

Under local regulatory requirements, Herrera and his executive team now have 30 calendar days to complete the formal migration into a banking entity — a defined runway rather than an open-ended process.

Customers should notice nothing but continuity. Services will run without interruption during the transition, and Nu Mexico has committed to keeping users updated on the final operational steps, with round-the-clock support available through its mobile app.