Brazil’s biggest lender Itau Unibanco Holding SA managed to attract 10 million clients to its digital bank iti, tripling its customer base since the start of the year, a bank executive said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Itau’s push for more customers comes at a time when fintechs such as Berkshire Hathaway Inc-backed Nubank and General Atlantic’s Neon have gained millions of customers from traditional banks and those without bank accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joao Araujo, director of iti director, said it had targeted customers in regions where Itau has fewer customers, such as the states of northern and northeastern Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The digital bank, which had about 3 million users by early 2021, focuses on low-income strata shunned by traditional lenders in Brazil, South America’s most populous nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 80% of iti’s customers are new to Itau and more than half of them are under 30 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
iti launched a physical free-of-charge credit card in March, which is offered by all neobanks in Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n