The Bank for Brazilians, Outside of Brazil: Our Investment in Nomad

Millions of Brazilians travel to, work in or attend school in the United States every year; and within Brazil, e-commerce spend topped $25B in 2021. In addition, the number of individual investors in Brazil exceeded 3M in 2021, up 4x since 2017.

Despite massive tailwinds in cross-boarder finance, e-commerce and retail investing, traditional institutions have proved unable to provide quality products that enable access to international financial services. High balance minimums and banking fees, combined with extensive paperwork and long wait times, create a considerable barrier to entry for most Brazilians to open a US bank account. Brazilian taxation laws also make international spend with a Brazilian issued card unnecessarily expensive. Institutions like Nubank and C6 have proven a massive force in the push towards banking Brazil’s adult population - Nubank boasts 35M monthly active users across Brazil, Colombia and Mexico; we believe the next step in Brazil’s fintech journey is a push towards financial globalization through a digitally-enabled solution.

Nomad’s Edge:

With Nomad, Brazilians can open a US bank account in minutes and fund the account using BRL from their domestic bank in a couple of days. No paperwork, minimums, or fees required. Foreign exchange occurs at a transparent rate (market price + government tax + 2% Nomad fee) and users pay no international fee or tax on card spend. Nomad recently rolled out its investment product that allows users to buy / sell specific equities or invest into pre-defined portfolios; this newest feature exemplifies Nomad’s mission to enable any Brazilian to create a real financial footprint in the US .

While Nomad started as a service catering to international Brazilian travelers, it has organically evolved into a far more universal product. In addition to using the Nomad card to spend while abroad, users can achieve similar savings when engaging in international e-commerce from Brazil. As retail investing continues to become more popular among Brazilians, Nomad is well positioned to give users a convenient, easy way to invest in US stocks on their own terms. The product also provides individuals with an easy way to set up direct deposit and get paid by any US employer, as well as save in a currency more stable than their own (the BRL has been devalued by over 60% in the last 10 years).

Stripes invests in Nomad:

When we first met Lucas and Patrick, we were impressed with their A+ background in the Brazilian tech / startup scene and their clear vision to build a new type of financial product. In addition, we admired the premium positioning that Nomad was taking in an underserved market. Upon further investigation, it became clear that Nomad’s suite of products was serving an acute need among a large population of Brazilians, as well as providing a greenfield opportunity to many more.

We believe that now is the time for Nomad to build a platform of USD-denominated products and services that are otherwise uneasily accessed by the majority of the market. We are thrilled to partner with Lucas, Patrick and the rest of the Nomad team as they build the bank for Brazilians, outside of Brazil.