The past couple of months has seen changes in multiple industries, be it in the world of finance or social justice. Sectors such as financial technology have taken rapid steps to be more inclusive of the latest trends while staying focused on core values.
Just recently, fintech giant Nubank got caught up in controversy after co-founder Cristina Junqueira passed racist comments about hiring people of color. Following the storm, the bank promised its userbase that it will fund the tech education of more than 1250 black people.
Nubank remains Brazil’s largest fintech organization after setting up the foundation of Web 4.0 growth. This however did not protect it from the backlash it faced from the public after its co-founder made horrendous statements about hiring black people for the company’s roster. When asked about employing more PoC for Nubank, Cristina Junqueira stated that the company would not “lower its standards” by doing so.
She further opined that the Nubank did not require more employees just for the sake of increasing market reputation. Her statement of black people lowering the standards of a company rightly riled up the public, forcing the company to take reparation steps. The fintech is set to invest 20 million reais in the initiatives to boost the presence of black people in Nubank as well as the financial sector.
Nubank also has plans to launch multiple mentorship programs next year to facilitate the growth of different demographics in the space. Junqueira, along with David Velez and Edward Wible will be in charge of initiating the program that will ensure a respectable number of black people enter the fintech industry. Comments such as the one made by the Nubank co-founder were not just tasteless but also pointed to the systemic racism everpresent in today’s society.
Movements such as “Black Lives Matter” have put the hardships faced by black people in the forefront, making a lot of people sit up and take notice. The immediate backlash that Nubank faced was the result of a vigilant public exasperated at the constant segregation of their people based on the color of their skin.