Nubank's US launch and $168.6B in remittances to Latin America
By Alexander SchekGo-to-market and sales leadership in Latin America
1 min readNubank launched in the United States with free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia for its customers there. According to IFAD, Latin America and the Caribbean received $168.6 billion in remittances in 2025, 132% more than ten years earlier. The question is how many people now paying fees would open an account to use them.
Free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are part of what Nubank announced for its launch in the United States, along with a savings account and a Mastercard credit card. David Vélez said more than one million Brazilians, Mexicans and Colombians who travel to the U.S. or moved there had asked Nu for banking service.
Four days later IFAD, the UN fund, published its report on money that migrants send home. Latin America and the Caribbean received $168.6 billion in 2025, 132% more than ten years earlier, the fastest growth of any region. In Honduras that money is equal to 30% of GDP, and in El Salvador to 28%.
According to IFAD, fully digital transfers cost an average of about 4.6%, compared with 7.3% for non-digital transfers. But only 35% are digital from beginning to end. A transfer may start in an app and still be paid out in cash.
Nubank’s transfers would be free, but only for Nu customers in the U.S. How many people who currently pay transfer fees would open an account to use them?
Sources: Nu, announcement of its launch in the United States and Nu Global, September 10, 2026; IFAD, Remittances nearly doubled in a decade to reach US$729 billion in 2025, September 14, 2026; Jamaica Observer, IFAD report figures on remittances by country and cost, September 15, 2026
Publication: Originally published on my professional LinkedIn on September 17, 2026.