Ranking
Safest Banks in Brazil 2026
Every bank and fintech we cover that holds Brazilians' money through an institution licensed by the Central Bank of Brazil, from the big private and state banks to digital banks and payment apps. Each score combines capital, deposit protection under the FGC, liquidity, conduct, digital security and how the institution came through crises since 2008. Open any bank for the data and sources behind its score.
Updated · Scores update with each page
The ranking
Itaú Unibanco
Itaú Unibanco is Brazil's largest bank by assets and one of its most profitable, with a liquidity ratio of about twice the minimum. Deposits at its Brazilian banks are covered by the FGC up to R$250,000 per person. Brazil's BB sovereign rating, antitrust cases and fee settlements keep the score in the low 70s.
Score 73, grade BBradesco
Bradesco is Brazil's second-largest private bank, with R$2.5 trillion of assets and capital topped up by a R$10 billion share issue in 2026. The FGC covers deposits up to R$250,000 per person. The weak points are service, with the worst complaints index among the big banks, and less spare liquidity than Itaú.
Score 70, grade BBanco do Brasil
Banco do Brasil is Brazil's oldest bank and half owned by the federal government, with R$2.6 trillion of assets. Deposits are covered by the FGC up to R$250,000 per person. Rising defaults in farm lending have cut profits by a third and left a CET1 buffer of about three points.
Score 69, grade CCaixa Econômica Federal
Caixa Econômica Federal is Brazil's state-owned savings and mortgage bank, with 160 million customers and 40% of the country's savings. The FGC covers deposits up to R$250,000 per person, and capital and liquidity are strong. Fraud against benefit accounts, data leaks and central bank fines pull the score down.
Score 69, grade CSantander Brasil
Santander Brasil is one of Brazil's largest private banks, about 90% owned by Spain's Banco Santander, and deposits are covered by the FGC up to R$250,000 per person. Its capital cushion is thinner than Itaú's or Bradesco's, profits fell in 2026, and Central Bank settlements and Procon fines weigh on conduct.
Score 69, grade CNubank
Nubank is a profitable, Central Bank-supervised group with 118 million customers in Brazil. Yield-earning balances sit in RDBs covered by the FGC up to R$250,000, and idle account money must be ring-fenced. The catches are a heavy book of unsecured consumer credit and capital that is adequate rather than generous.
Score 68, grade CBanco Inter
Banco Inter is a fully licensed Brazilian bank, owned by Nasdaq-listed Inter&Co, and its deposits are covered by the FGC up to R$250,000 per person. Capital is above the minimum and liquid assets are large. Two data leaks in 2018–19 and a spike in complaints in 2025 hold the score back.
Score 67, grade CPicPay
Most PicPay savings sit in CDBs at PicPay Bank, a licensed Brazilian bank, covered by the FGC up to R$250,000 per person, and capital is well above the minimum. The catches are fast growth in risky consumer lending, internal-control weaknesses and close ties to its owner, J&F.
Score 65, grade CC6 Bank
C6 Bank is a licensed Brazilian bank, part-owned by JPMorgan, and its deposits are covered by the FGC up to R$250,000 per person. It is now very profitable. The catches are a short record, a 2023 capital squeeze, refunds over improper charges and one of the worst complaint rates among Brazil's large banks.
Score 60, grade CMercado Pago
Mercado Pago, the fintech arm of MercadoLibre, is a regulated payment company in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, not a bank. Account money must be kept apart from its own funds, in Brazil in federal government bonds, but it is not covered by deposit insurance. The group is profitable but lends heavily to risky borrowers.
Score 60, grade C
How we chose the banks
The rule for this list is the licence, not the logo. A page is on it if the company holds Brazilian customers' money through an institution authorised by the Central Bank of Brazil. That covers the three big private banks, Itaú Unibanco, Bradesco and Santander Brasil; the two state banks, Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal; the licensed digital banks Banco Inter, C6 Bank and PicPay Bank; and two fintechs whose Brazilian accounts sit at regulated payment institutions, Nubank and Mercado Pago. Nubank's yield-earning balances sit at Nu Financeira, a credit company, while it waits for approval to buy a bank. Global groups enter only when our page covers their Brazilian bank.
How the order is built
Each institution has six scored factors. Capital strength counts for 25%: the CET1 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 against what the Central Bank requires, and credit ratings. Deposit 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 counts for 20%, liquidity and funding for 15%, conduct over the last ten years for 15%, digital security for 15% and stability since 2008 for 10%. The weights and rubrics are on how we score banks.
The order is the scores sorted from the highest down, not a choice we make by hand. It changes when we update a page after new results, a fine or a data leak, which is why this text quotes no scores.
The five largest banks, Itaú, Banco do Brasil, Caixa, Bradesco and Santander Brasil, are treated as systemically important by the Central Bank, and each must hold an extra 1.0% of CET1 for it, which is why their CET1 requirement is 8.0% rather than 7.0%. Banco do Brasil is half owned by the federal Treasury and Caixa wholly. Younger institutions lose points for shorter records, faster lending to riskier borrowers, thinner capital headroom or heavy complaint loads, and Mercado Pago because its account balances have no FGC cover at all.
FGC deposit protection
The Fundo Garantidor de Créditos is a private fund that member banks pay for. It covers current accounts, savings (poupança), CDBs and RDBs, and bank-issued LCIs, LCAs, LCDs and mortgage bills, up to R$250,000 per CPF or CNPJ at each institution or financial conglomerate. Brands and banks in the same group share one limit, so splitting money between them does not raise the cover. A joint account is covered up to R$250,000 in total, divided between the holders.
There is a second limit. For investments made since 22 December 2017, the FGC pays one person at most R$1 million in any four-year period, counted from the first liquidation or intervention. Government bonds, investment funds, debentures, CRIs, CRAs, financial bills (LFs) and deposits abroad are not covered, nor are shares or crypto bought through a banking app.
The FGC after Banco Master
The fund was tested hard in 2026. The Central Bank liquidated Banco Master on 18 November 2025, and the FGC owed about R$40.6 billion to roughly 1.6 million creditors. Federal police have since put the alleged fraud in deals between Master and the state bank BRB at about R$17 billion, which Master's owner denies. Reag Investimentos and Banco Pleno were also liquidated. On 10 February 2026 the FGC's board approved an emergency plan to rebuild its cash, and on 5 March it called about R$32.5 billion from member banks, five years of ordinary contributions paid in advance, due by 25 March. By early March the fund had already paid out about R$38.4 billion, so the cover worked as promised. A weaker fund is still a reason not to keep balances right at the limit.
What the score does not tell you
Up to R$250,000 per financial group, your money is protected at every bank on this list, as long as it is in a covered product. The score says more about money above the limit, how reliably you can reach your account, and how the institution treats customers. It says nothing about a CDB's yield, fees or service.
Check what your money actually is before you compare. In a Brazilian app, one screen can show a covered CDB, an uncovered payment balance, a fund and crypto side by side, and the product decides your protection more than the brand does.
Questions
What is the safest bank in Brazil?
The bank at the top of this list has the highest score we give a Brazilian institution right now. For an ordinary saver, the gaps near the top matter less than the FGC limit, which protects deposits and bank-issued investments up to R$250,000 per person at each financial group, whichever member bank holds them.
Is money in a Nubank or Mercado Pago account covered by the FGC?
Only part of it. At Nubank, balances that earn yield are invested in RDBs issued by Nu Financeira, which the FGC covers; money left uninvested in the prepaid account is not, though it must be kept at the Central Bank or in government bonds. At Mercado Pago the account balance is ring-fenced E-moneyMoney held as a stored balance with a payment firm rather than as a bank deposit. It is safeguarded, not covered by deposit insurance.More in the glossary backed by federal bonds, and only the CDBs behind Cofrinhos carry FGC cover.
Why do Brazilian banks score lower than many banks in Europe or the US?
Partly because of the country, not the banks. Brazil is rated BB by S&P and Fitch and Ba1 by Moody's, below investment grade, and a bank's own ratings rarely rise far above its government's. That holds back the capital score even at banks with high returns and large liquidity buffers.
Is Santander on this list?
Yes, as Santander Brasil. The ranking uses our page for Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., the Brazilian bank that holds Brazilian customers' money and is about 90% owned by Spain's Banco Santander. Its deposits are covered by the FGC like those at any member bank. Our separate Santander page covers the Spanish group and its banks in Spain, the UK and the US, so it is not ranked here.
Does this ranking tell me where to keep my money?
No. It compares how safe your money is, not fees, interest rates or service. Use it to check that an institution you already use is sound, to see which product your money is actually in, and to keep each financial group within the FGC limit if your savings are large.