Itaú Unibanco

Universal bank · São Paulo, Brazil

Itaú Unibanco is the largest bank in Latin America, formed by the 2008 merger of Itaú and Unibanco and controlled by Itaúsa. It has about 92,000 employees, 4,336 branches in Brazil and banking subsidiaries in Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay, plus a PRA-authorised bank in London, a CSSF-licensed bank in Luxembourg and offices in Miami and New York. For companies it offers the free digital Itaú Emps account with unlimited Pix and automatic yield, Adapt service plans from R$169 a month, the Rede acquiring network with e-commerce connectors, export letters of credit, and the Itaú BBA corporate and investment bank that serves about 1,500 startups. Retail and íon platform clients can trade ten cryptocurrencies including USDC, and the bank takes part in the Drex and ANBIMA tokenisation pilots.

Legal name: Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.
Regulated by: Banco Central do Brasil, CVM (Brazil), SUSEP (Brazil), PRA/FCA (Itaú BBA International plc, UK), CSSF (Itaú Europe SA, Luxembourg), Banco de Portugal, Federal Reserve (US operations, 165(d) resolution plan), CMF Chile
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 2008
Website: www.itau.com.br

Scores, 0 to 10

10.0Latin America, Africa & South Asia

Largest bank in Latin America with 4,336 branches in Brazil, native Pix, a free digital SME account and banks in Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay. · source

7.0Startups & VC-backed companies

Itaú BBA has about 1,500 startup clients and Cubo Itaú, founded in 2015 with Redpoint eventures, connects startups to 70 corporates. · source

7.0Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Offers export letters of credit, export collections and commodity trading finance in Brazil plus letters of credit through Itaú Colombia and Chile, with a correspondent bank network but no global LC issuance. · source

7.0Customer satisfaction

Reclame Aqui gives Banco Itaú 8.1 out of 10 with the 'Ótima' seal; no Trustpilot data with meaningful volume was found. · source

7.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Itaú Empresas issues Visa Infinite and Mastercard Black business cards and lets clients create virtual cards for online purchases. · source

6.5Lowest fees

Itaú Emps has no monthly fee with free unlimited Pix, while Adapt plans cost R$169 to R$399 a month and are free above R$20,000 to R$100,000 of monthly card, Pix QR and boleto receipts. · source

6.5Best interest on business balances

Business account balances earn automatic yield ('rendimento automático do saldo em conta') on Itaú Emps and automatic investment on Itaú Empresas accounts, with the rate not published on the page. · source

6.5Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Itaú BBA offers Banking-as-a-Service to tech clients and buys FIDC quotas issued by fintechs, and Cubo Fintech is a dedicated hub for financial startups. · source

6.5Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Rede, the Itaú acquirer, provides the e.Rede gateway, homologated connectors for VTEX and other platforms, and payment links with Pix and card acceptance. Itaú Empresas accounts bundle Pix QR Code, boleto and Laranjinha card acquiring, with the monthly fee waived from 20,000 BRL of monthly turnover. · source

6.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

Offers export letters of credit, export collections and FX through Itaú Empresas plus corporate banks in four other Latin American countries, but currency counts and margins are not published. Itaú BBA serves corporates from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, the US, London and Luxembourg under one group, a regional rather than global network. · source

6.0Fast digital onboarding

Itaú Emps can be opened through WhatsApp for companies with an active CNPJ, but access is by invitation or waiting list and foreign companies need a Brazilian entity. · source

6.0Financial strength & stability

Fitch BB+ and Moody's Ba2 global ratings are sub-investment grade under the sovereign cap, CET1 was 12.3% at 31 December 2025, and Fitch's implied viability rating is bbb-. · source

5.5Crypto-friendly bank

Itaú has a digital assets head who has said the bank is weighing its own stablecoin, and clients trade ten cryptocurrencies via íon, but no published programme onboards crypto exchanges or VASPs as business clients. · source

4.0Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

Itaú Europe SA was authorised by Luxembourg's CSSF as a locally licensed bank, absorbing the Portuguese bank, and focuses on corporate and investment banking plus private banking rather than SME accounts. · source

4.0United Kingdom

Itaú BBA International plc in London is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA for corporate clients, and the group is consolidating its UK and EU banking activities into the Luxembourg entity. · source

4.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Itau holds crypto bought or deposited in its app in its own custody and is authorised as a virtual asset broker under Central Bank Resolution 520/25, but the service is sold to individual investors and no crypto account for Itau Empresas business clients was found, checked September 2026. · source

4.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

Customers buy 15 cryptoassets in the Itau and ion apps from R$10 with fees from 1.95% down to 0.50% above R$500,000, but this is an investment product for individuals and no business on-ramp or exchange-funding policy is published. · source

4.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Crypto held at Itau can be sold back to reais inside the app 24/7, a retail feature; no published process for companies receiving exchange proceeds was found, checked September 2026. · source

4.0Bitcoin

Bitcoin can be bought, held in Itau custody and sold in the retail app since December 2024 for all account holders, with B3 bitcoin futures also offered, but no business bitcoin account exists. · source

4.0Ethereum

Ether and several ERC-20 tokens such as LINK, AAVE and UNI are traded and held in the retail app only, with no staking and no business account, checked September 2026. · source

4.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

USDC is tradable in the retail app; the BRLD real stablecoin launched in January 2026 belongs to Liqi, a company in which Itau is second-largest shareholder, not to the bank itself, so Itau offers no business stablecoin accounts or payouts. · source

3.5United States

Itaú runs eight US operating entities in Miami and New York for corporate, asset management and private banking with no insured depository institution, per its 2025 resolution plan. · source

3.5High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Itaú publishes no prohibited-industries list on its business pages. · source

3.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

Itaú keeps a Tokyo branch at Marunouchi and offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, serving Brazilian-linked clients rather than onboarding local foreign-owned companies. · source

2.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

A foreign company can bank only through a Brazilian entity with a CNPJ and a Brazil-resident legal representative, with approval in 3 to 6 weeks. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

Itau's acquirer Rede and its e.Rede online gateway process card payments only, and no crypto acceptance for merchants was found on Itau Empresas or Rede pages, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.