Neon

Founded 2016 as one of Brazil's first all-digital challenger banks. After its original sponsor bank Banco Neon SA was shut down by the central bank in 2018, Neon restructured around its own licensed entities — Neon Pagamentos S.A. (payment institution) and Neon Financeira SCFI S.A. (credit, financing & investment company) — moving from a BaaS-dependent neobank to a vertically integrated full-stack digital bank with its own credit license. The company now operates as a self-licensed financial institution distributing credit, CDB investments, and credit cards in-house, with Itaú and Citibank acting only as correspondents for bill-payment rails. Reached breakeven in 2024 with 32M+ customers.