Itaú Unibanco

Is Itaú Unibanco safe?

For a depositor in Brazil, yes. Itaú Unibanco is the country's largest bank, with R$2,742 billion of assets at the end of 2025, and one of the most profitable large banks anywhere, earning a 24.3% return on equity in the second quarter of 2026. Its CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary was 12.3% in June 2026, about four points above its 8.1% requirement, and its 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 was 202%, twice the minimum. The FGC insures up to R$250,000 per person.

We score it 73/100, five points above Nubank, which has less capital headroom and is not yet a licensed bank, and four below Santander, whose group sits under higher sovereign ratings in Europe. The main thing holding Itaú back is not the bank but the country: Brazil is rated BB by S&P and Fitch and Ba1 by Moody's, below investment grade, and no Brazilian bank's ratings rise far above that.

What the FGC covers at Itaú

The Fundo Garantidor de Créditos is a private fund that all Brazilian deposit-taking institutions pay into; it is not a government agency. It pays out when the Central Bank intervenes in or liquidates a bank. The rules that matter for an Itaú customer:

• R$250,000 per person per financial group. Itaú Unibanco S.A., Itaú Personnalité, Itaú BBA and the group's other banks count as one. Splitting money between them does not raise the cover.
• What is covered: current accounts, savings (poupança), CDBs, LCIs, LCAs and similar bank-issued instruments.
• What is not: investment funds, shares, debentures, pension plans such as PGBL and VGBL, and deposits taken abroad.
• An overall cap of R$1 million per person across all banks, renewed every four years.

The FGC was called on in 2025 when the Central Bank liquidated a mid-sized bank, Banco Master. That did not affect Itaú customers, but it is a reminder that the fund is finite. For balances above R$250,000, the real protection is Itaú's own strength and its status: the Central Bank requires it to hold an extra 1.0% of CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary as a domestic systemically important bank.

Capital and liquidity in numbers

Itaú's CET1 ratio has come down from 13.5% in September 2025 as lending grew and it paid out profits as dividends and interest on capital. Earnings of over R$12 billion a quarter rebuild capital quickly, but the bank runs with a moderate cushion rather than a large one. The leverage ratio of 6.8% is solid. Liquidity is a real strength: R$381 billion of high-quality liquid assets against expected 30-day stressed outflows of R$189 billion. Brazilian government bonds are 19% of its assets, which ties Itaú closely to the sovereign.

Antitrust and consumer cases

Itaú's record has no large fraud or money laundering scandal of the kind seen at some global banks, but it has open cases. Since 2016 Brazil's competition authority CADE has been investigating alleged collusion in foreign exchange trading involving Itaú BBA and other banks; Itaú lists the case as a possible loss in its 2026 reference form. In 2026 CADE kept a preventive order that stops Itaú from refusing certain transfers into rival digital wallets, with a daily fine if it breaches the order; Itaú says it complies and the case has not been judged on the merits.

At the consumer level, state Procon offices and prosecutors fine Itaú regularly for service failures, usually in the hundreds of thousands of reais. The most relevant to safety came in April 2025, when Ceará's public prosecutor fined it R$602,969 after finding that fraudsters had taken out payroll loans in customers' names too easily.

How to protect your money at Itaú

1. Keep FGC-covered balances within R$250,000 per person across the whole Itaú group, and use a bank from a different group for more.
2. Check whether a product is a CDB, LCI or LCA issued by Itaú (covered) or a fund or pension plan (not covered).
3. Set a low night-time Pix limit in the app, keep the Itaú token on one trusted device and never move money at the request of a caller who says they are from the bank.
4. Check your credit record (Registrato at the Central Bank) for loans you did not take out.

How we scored it

Liquidity (86) and stability history (85) are Itaú's strongest factors: a 202% LCRLiquidity 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 and no rescue through Brazil's crises. Capital (66) is the weakest, because the CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary buffer is about four points and Brazil's sub-investment-grade rating caps the bank's. Conduct (68) and digital security (70) reflect the CADE cases and consumer fines, all small for a bank of this size.