C6 Bank

Is C6 Bank safe?

For balances under the FGC limit, yes. Banco C6 S.A. holds a Brazilian banking licence, and current accounts and CDBs there are covered by the Fundo Garantidor de Créditos (FGC) up to R$250,000 per person. The bank is now large and very profitable, and JPMorgan Chase owns 46% of it. But it is young, it needed fresh capital as recently as 2023, and its treatment of customers has led to refunds agreed with the Central Bank, a suspension by the social security agency and one of the worst complaint rates among large Brazilian banks. We score C6 Bank 60/100, below Banco Inter at 67 and PicPay at 65.

What protects your money at C6

C6's deposits sit at Banco C6 S.A., a private bank on the Central Bank's list of authorised institutions. Payroll loans run through a sister bank, Banco C6 Consignado S.A. Both are controlled by the holding company N7. Because the FGC limit counts per person across a financial conglomerate, balances at the two banks share one R$250,000 limit. Funds, shares and crypto bought in the app are investments, not deposits.

C6 funds itself mostly with CDBs. At June 2026 total funding was R$125.6 billion, of which only R$12.8 billion was demand deposits and R$112.9 billion time deposits. That money is more rate-sensitive than salary accounts, and C6 publishes no liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary. The FGC itself was strained after the Central Bank liquidated Banco Master in November 2025. C6 says some of the FGC payouts to Master's creditors flowed into its own CDBs in early 2026.

From capital squeeze to high profits

C6 launched in 2019 and grew fast while losing money: R$2.2 billion in 2022 alone, according to Brazil Journal. Losses pushed its Basel ratio from 21.3% to 11.9% within a year, close to the 10.5% minimum. In August 2023 JPMorgan, which had bought 40% in 2021, raised its stake to 46% with new capital. C6 made its first annual profit, R$2.3 billion, in 2024 and R$2.46 billion in 2025, and the Basel ratio recovered to 13.1% by December 2025. By June 2026 it had slipped to 12.6%, and the Tier 1 ratio to 9.3% against an 8.5% minimum, as lending grew faster than capital.

Profit is now the main shock absorber, but credit costs are climbing. In the first half of 2026 provisions for bad loans rose 138% to R$2.37 billion and loans more than 90 days late rose to 3.6%, from 3.2% a year earlier, largely because of new private payroll loans. Return on equity fell to 38%. The loan book is mostly secured: 45% payroll loans and 30% vehicle finance.

Refunds, suspensions and complaints

In April 2024 C6 signed a settlement with the Central Bank to refund R$36 million to 264,300 customers who were charged improper fees on credit-card instalment plans between November 2020 and July 2022. It also agreed to pay the Central Bank a R$1.8 million contribution. C6 said 98% of the money had already been returned in 2022.

Payroll loans to retirees are a repeat problem. In January 2021 Procon-SP, the São Paulo consumer authority, fined C6 about R$7 million after retirees complained of payroll loans they had not asked for and of cancellations it made hard. In March 2026 the INSS, Brazil's social security agency, stopped C6 Consig from registering new payroll loans to retirees and pensioners. The federal comptroller (CGU) had found at least 320,000 contracts with signs of extra charges such as service packages and insurance, which the INSS called conduct of "high gravity". C6 rejects the finding and said it would go to court.

Complaints are a pattern. In the Central Bank's ranking of upheld complaints per million clients, C6 was the worst of the 15 largest banks and payment firms in the first quarter of 2026 and second worst in the second and third quarters, at 52 per million. Nubank scored under 11 in the same quarter. C6 says it has enlarged its support team.

How to keep money safe at C6 Bank

1. Keep account balances and CDBs at C6 under R$250,000 per person, counting any C6 Consignado products. Spread larger sums across unrelated banking groups.
2. If you are a retiree with a C6 payroll loan, check your INSS statement for insurance or service charges you did not ask for.
3. Set a low night-time Pix limit and require biometric confirmation for transfers.
4. Escalate unresolved problems to C6's ombudsman and then to the Central Bank's complaints service.

How we scored it

Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (72) is C6's strongest factor, because account money and CDBs sit in a licensed bank with FGC cover. Capital (54) and liquidity (66) are adequate but thin for a lender this fast-growing and reliant on CDB funding. Conduct (48) is the weakest, after refunds agreed with the Central Bank, the INSS suspension and persistently high complaints, and stability history (52) reflects the 2023 capital squeeze.