Abstract

This case illustrates how Cristina Helena Zingaretti Junqueira (Junqueira), co-founder of the Sao-Paulo based Nubank, reinvented the banking system in Brazil and helped launch a new wave of digital banking and finance in the region. Nubank revolutionized Brazil’s banking system by allowing customers to apply for credit cards, personal loans, and savings accounts using a smartphone, without the need for physical documents or branch visits, at more competitive rates than traditional banks. Nubank’s customer base grew from one million customers in 2016 to 70 million customers as of 2022. The case illustrates how Junqueira smashed the glass ceiling in the fiercely male-dominated Brazilian financial industry and played a pivotal role in building Nubank, doing everything from developing new products, marketing, to offering customer service. She led teams including legal, operations, business development, corporate strategy, M&A, real estate and facilities, marketing and branding, as well as PR and communications. She was also a fearless supporter of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace. Women represented 43% of Nubank’s workforce of over 2,800 people, including 39% in senior management roles as of 2022. The case looks at a host of challenges that Junqueira could face going forward. Her biggest task would be to sustain Nubank’s growth and increase revenues amidst a volatile global economy. The case concludes by discussing Junqueira’s future priorities which include launching new financial products, increasing customer count, beating competition, turning Nubank profitable, encouraging more women to enter the fintech space and enabling financial inclusion of the low income segments of society.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the issues and challenges faced by women in fintech
• Examine the role played by Junqueira in the success of Nubank
• Identify the leadership qualities and management skills of Junqueira
• Analyze the challenges faced by Junqueira in her role as CEO of Nubank
• Explore strategies that Junqueira can adopt to bridge the gender gap and enable financial inclusion through fintech.

Keywords

Financial inclusion; Neobank; Fintech; Glassceiling; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Disruptive leadership; Women in business