Currently Brazil has the largest credit card market in the region, with 100 million cards in circulation. But as Vélez describes it, the country’s five largest banks — which control some 95% of all consumer financial services in the country — are being impacted by the economy today, and they are pulling away from some services and trying to cut their costs, resulting in worse terms for their customers. This means that smaller offerings like Nubank’s, whose credit card is “free” — as long as you pay your balance on time (that is, no upfront or service charge as many others do in Brazil) — suddenly become more attractive to consumers.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/07/dst-leads-80m-round-in-brazils-nubank-to-take-on-the-big-boys-in-financial-services/