David Vélez - Building Nubank and the Future of Global Banking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.495]

Vélez argues AI will let digitally-native banks like Nubank undercut incumbents' hidden cost structures across a still 90%-branch-dominated $10 trillion global banking market.

• Scale vs. incumbents: Nubank serves 140M customers with 10,000 employees versus incumbents' 100M customers, 100,000 employees and 6,000 branches — a ~3% cost-to-serve ratio.
• The $600B deposit tax: U.S. banks pay ~40bps on $15 trillion in retail deposits despite 4.5-5% rates, a hidden wealth transfer Vélez says digital banks will compete away.

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