Goldman-backed Nubank heads to Argentina as part of Latin America push

Brazil’s Nu Pagamentos SA, a six-year-old fintech firm that grew to become the nation’s fifth-biggest credit-card issuer, has chosen the next target in its Latin American expansion: Argentina.

The firm known as Nubank and backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. will open an office in the South American nation, co-founder Cristina Junqueira said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Rafael Soto, former chief executive officer at Argentina’s mobile payments app Ualá, will head the new venture.

Nubank plans to have 300 employees in Argentina by the end of 2020, Junqueira said.

“We’re looking into expanding to other Latin American markets as well,” said Junqueira.

The fintech firm announced in May that it would open an office in Mexico.

Junqueira said Nubank hasn’t yet decided on the first product to be offered in Argentina but plans on launching it by 2020. The office will also be used as a tech hub to support the rest of its ventures across Latin America, she said.

Nubank has nine million customers, and recently sold private shares at a US$3.6-billion valuation.

Another online startup in Argentina, Brubank SAU, also is pushing to profit on the fact that less than half the population in the nation has a bank account.