Cristina Junqueira

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Cristina Junqueira
Cris Junqueira.png
BornSeptember 1982 (age 43)
Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Alma mater
Known forCo-founder of Nubank
SpouseRubens Pereira
Children3

Cristina Junqueira (born September 1982) is a Brazilian businesswoman who is the co-founder of Nubank. [1] With a background in engineering, she transitioned from management consulting to supervising a credit card portfolio at a major Brazilian bank. She co-founded Nubank, which is now the world's largest neobank, with a focus on providing digital financial services through a user-friendly app, in 2013. [2] Nubank serves over 53 million customers across Latin America and is one of the world's largest digital-banking platforms. Junqueira has been a strong advocate for gender inclusion in the workplace. [3] As cofounder of Nubank, she has led the company's policy on inclusivity programs and fought to increase female representation in both tech and finance. Junqueira is currently the CEO of Nubank Brazil and owns nearly 3% of Nubank. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Junqueira was born in September 1982 in Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. [5] [6]

Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she was raised as the eldest of four sisters. She attended St. Ignatius College, a Jesuit high school in Rio's Botafogo district. [5]

In 2000 Junqueira moved to São Paulo for university, enrolling at the University of São Paulo (USP). She earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from USP in 2004. Cristina Junqueira began her career as an associate consultant at Boston Consulting Group while pursuing a Master's in economic and financial modeling at the Universidade de São Paulo. Upon returning to Brazil, she joined Unibanco, leading its small and medium-sized business sector. After Unibanco merged with Itaú, she became a portfolio manager, contributing to one of the largest private banking entities in Brazil. [7] [8] She simultaneously pursued and obtained her master's degree in economic and financial modeling at USP by 2006. She then moved to the United States to attend Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, and earned her MBA in 2008. [9] [10] [8]

Career

Early banking career

After completing her MBA, Junqueira returned to Brazil in 2008 and joined Unibanco as head of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The following year, Unibanco merged with Banco Itaú to form Itaú Unibanco, and Junqueira became a portfolio manager in the merged bank's credit card department. [6]

In 2009, she transferred to LuizaCred, a consumer credit venture of Itaú Unibanco and retailer Magazine Luiza, where she served as head of marketing and products from 2009 to 2012. By 2012, Junqueira had rejoined Itaú Unibanco as the manager of its credit card portfolio (Itaúcard). [9]

Nubank

The idea for Nubank emerged during Junqueira's tenure at Itaú Unibanco and its subsidiaries, where she observed structural limitations within Brazil's banking system. [11] [12] At the time, approximately five banks controlled around 80% of the market, and consumers commonly faced high fees and interest rates.

After five years at Itaú, Junqueira proposed initiatives such as commission-free credit cards and improved customer communication. According to interviews, these suggestions were not adopted by the institution. In 2013, she left her role as a product manager to pursue an alternative model. [2] [7]

Shortly thereafter, she was introduced to David Vélez, a venture capitalist formerly with Sequoia Capital, who had also expressed dissatisfaction with the Brazilian banking landscape. The two shared similar views on the need for more accessible and technology-driven financial solutions. They were soon joined by software engineer Edward Wible, and the trio began raising capital for what would become Nubank. [7] [9]

Junqueira and Vélez decided upon "Nubank" as the name to represent their venture. In addition to "nu"phonetically sounding similar to the word "new", it means "nude" in Portuguese, symbolizing a transparent approach to banking.

In December 2021, Nubank debuted on the New York Stock Exchange as Nu Holdings, reaching an initial valuation of over US$50 billion. At that point, Junqueira's equity briefly placed her among Brazil's self-made female billionaires. [4] By the end of 2023, Nubank had surpassed 90 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, establishing itself as one of the largest digital banking platforms in the world. [7]

Awards and recognition

She is Brazil's second self-made woman billionaire. She was recognized by Fortune's 40 under 40 list and featured in fintech magazines as one of Latin America's prominent startup founders. [3] In 2021, Junqueira was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst. As part of the program, she attended the annual New Economy Forum held in Singapore, and the Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst Retreat that same year. [13] In 2022, Junqueira was named amongst fintech's top 10 leaders. [14]

Personal life

Junqueira is married to Rubens Pereira. They have been together since 2006 and have three daughters. [9] Junqueira commented on raising daughters and being a positive role model, saying, “I want my daughters to grow up in a world where they can dream of being whoever they want to be—and you can’t dream of what you can’t see.” [15] [16]

References

  1. ↑ "Fed-Up Banker Quit for a Startup, and Now She's a Billionaire". Bloomberg.com. 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  2. 1 2 "Cristina Junqueira - Co-Founder at Nubank". Rest of World. 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  3. 1 2 "Women innovators continuing to change the world | McKinsey". www.mckinsey.com. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  4. 1 2 "Cristina Junqueira". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  5. 1 2 "A banqueira brasileira que conquistou NY" [The Brazilian banker who conquered NY]. Exame (in Portuguese). 19 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 McCarthy, Marcella (2021-06-14). "One woman's drive to make a neobank as magical as Disney". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Thompsett, Louis (1 May 2024). "Lifetime of Achievement: Cristina Junqueira". FinTech Magazine.
  8. 1 2 England, Joanna (2022-05-09). "Nubank's Cristina Junqueira and Brazil's Banking Revolution". fintechmagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Dalrymple, Rachel. "Cristina Junqueira". Leaders.com. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  10. ↑ "Cristina Junqueira, Nubank Co-Founder: Brazil's Wonder Woman of Fintech". Capital Finance International. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Cristina Junqueira | 2020 Most Powerful Women International". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  12. ↑ Corp, Eddie (2021-12-09). "Who is Cristina Junqueira, the first multimillionaire in Latin America who founded a company from scratch". Digis Mak. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "The Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst List". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
  14. ↑ Pearson. "Shaping the industry: The top 10 Fintech leaders 2022". Fintech. Fintech. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Hinchliffe, Emma (2021-12-13). "Nubank cofounder Cristina Junqueira achieves an IPO first". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  16. ↑ Mendes, Luiz Henrique (2021-12-09). "Nubank's Cristina Junqueira dribbles past banker stereotypes". valorinternational (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-08.
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