Cristina Junqueira

Cristina Junqueira has changed the way millions of Latin Americans manage their money. Now, the Brazilian entrepreneur has set her sights on the United States. In September 2026, she stood alongside Nubank founder David Vélez at Miami’s Nu Stadium to introduce the digital bank’s first American financial products. For a company that began with a single credit card in Brazil, this marks a remarkable milestone. For Junqueira, it was a challenge she had decided to take on personally.

Her understanding of banking comes from years spent inside the industry. As an engineer educated at the Universidade de São Paulo and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Junqueira first built her career at Itaú, where she led its largest credit card division. Despite her success, she became increasingly frustrated with a system that favored wealthy customers and made everyday banking unnecessarily complicated.

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In 2013, she left to join Nubank with Vélez and Edward Wible. They wanted to make financial services simpler and more transparent, accessible to people accustomed to high fees and frustrating bureaucracy. The early years of the company demanded extraordinary commitment. In 2014, Junqueira signed documents that secured $15 million in funding while in a hospital bed, in labor with her first child.

Nubank’s success eventually made her the first self-made Brazilian woman to enter Forbes’ billionaires ranking. Yet one of her most significant professional decisions came more recently, when she moved from São Paulo to Miami with her husband and four children to oversee the company’s American expansion.

As Nubank’s chief growth officer and CEO of its U.S. business, Junqueira is entering a market packed with established banks and competitors. In January 2026, Nubank received conditional approval to establish a national bank in the United States. Eight months later, it launched its first American products through a banking partner, including a high-yield account, a cash-back Mastercard and free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Its U.S. bank is expected to open in 2027, pending final regulatory approval.

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There is considerable interest from the communities Nubank knows best. More than one million Brazilians, Mexicans and Colombians have expressed interest in accessing its services in the United States. But Junqueira’s ambitions extend beyond Latino customers. She wants Nubank to become a bank Americans choose for their everyday financial needs.

Named among CNBC’s 2026 Changemakers, Junqueira has reached a point in her career where she could comfortably celebrate what she has accomplished. Instead, she has moved her family to another country to build something new. It’s a decision that says much about the entrepreneur behind Nubank. Even after helping create one of Latin America’s biggest financial success stories, she is still searching for opportunities worth pursuing.