Brazilian Fintech Inter&Co Rides Credit Demand to Strong Q2 Results
The fintech's results show strong growth across loan types, with private payroll lending emerging as a major driver of profitability.
Brazilian fintech Inter&Co has quietly become one of the country’s fastest-growing digital lenders.
Listed on Nasdaq and operating a financial super app that bundles banking, credit, mortgages, investments, and cross-border tools, the company now serves more than 40 million clients.
In a crowded space dominated by Nubank and traditional banks racing to digitise, Inter’s edge this quarter came from something old-school: loans.
Loan Growth Outpaces the Market
In Q2 2025, Inter reported a 53% jump in net income to $57.8 million, alongside a record-high return on equity of 13.9%. According to the company’s earnings report, the real driver wasn’t flashy new products but a surge in loan demand, and Inter’s willingness to meet it while competitors hold back.
The company’s gross loan portfolio grew to R$40.2 billion (around $7.4 billion), up 8% from Q1 and 22% year-over-year, more than twice the pace of Brazil’s broader credit market. While most players are cautiously pulling back, Inter is pushing forward, and it’s doing so without a blowout in defaults.
Private Payroll Loans Lead the Charge
A big part of that growth came from private-sector payroll loans, a segment Inter&Co rapidly expanded into after Brazil opened the market in March. While the fintech has offered payroll loans since 2003, this regulatory change created a much larger opportunity. These loans, backed by automatic salary deductions, are typically lower-risk, making them attractive to both borrowers and lenders.
By June, Inter’s private payroll loan book had grown to R$730 million, giving it a 1.6% foothold in a market with significant room to scale. Alexandre Riccio, Inter’s Brazil CEO, highlighted payroll loans alongside mortgages and FGTS-backed credit as areas fueling expansion.
This momentum extends beyond a single product. The Brazilian fintech also saw healthy quarter-over-quarter growth in FGTS-backed loans (+8%), mortgages (+11%), and credit cards (+6%), all while keeping non-performing loans steady at 4.6%. Its coverage ratio was raised to 143%, a sign it’s building protection alongside growth.
Meanwhile, revenue rose 9% in the quarter, outpacing a 5% rise in expenses. That operating leverage helped drive efficiency gains, with the bank’s efficiency ratio improving to 47.1%. In short, Inter’s loan engine is delivering both growth and discipline.
The company’s broader business is also expanding. It passed 40 million total clients in August, with 1.1 million new active users added in Q2 alone. And on the investor side, analysts at BTG Pactual and Citi are warming up, citing strong fundamentals and a valuation that still trades at a discount.
What This Means Going Forward
Inter&Co's broader business is expanding. It passed 40 million total clients in August, with 1.1 million new active users added in Q2 alone. By capitalising on the newly opened private payroll loan market and balancing that push with gains in other credit lines, the Brazilian fintech has shown it can scale without sacrificing stability.
This has shown that disciplined credit expansion, not hype, can drive real, profitable growth. If demand holds and risk stays in check, the rest of its strategy may simply follow the loan book’s lead.
