Nu Bank Mexico: The Card That Pays Our Bills (and the 13% Savings Trick)

One of the questions we get most often from fellow Canadians spending time in Mexico: “How do you handle banking down there?” Our answer these days is a single app with a purple card: Nu (better known as Nubank elsewhere in Latin America).

It’s the account that quietly pays our electricity and internet bills every month, earns us a genuinely remarkable savings rate, and never charges us a peso in annual fees. Here’s how we use it — and the honest answer about what our invitation link does for you.

The Catch: You Need Mexican Residency

Let’s get this out of the way first, because it’s the most common follow-up question: Nu Mexico requires Mexican residency. You’ll need temporary or permanent residency, your CURP, and a Mexican address and phone number to apply. Tourists can’t open an account — this one’s for residents, snowbirds with residency status, and expats.

If that’s you, the application takes a few minutes in the app, and the physical card arrives by mail.

What You Get: Four Pieces That Work Together

Cuenta Nu de Débito — the everyday account

The free debit account (“Cuenta Nu”) is the hub. No monthly fees, no minimum balance, a Mexican CLABE for SPEI transfers (Mexico’s instant payment system), and a debit card for daily spending. This is the closest thing to a chequing account — money in and out, transfers to landlords and local businesses, ATM withdrawals.

Cajitas — savings “boxes” inside the account

Inside the debit account you can park money in “Cajitas” — little savings boxes that separate money you’re not spending today while keeping it available 24/7. The standard Cajita currently earns around 6.5% annually, paid daily. For context, that’s roughly what a decent Canadian high-interest savings account pays — except it’s on your pesos, in Mexico.

Cajita Turbo — the 13% headline

This is the one that makes people do a double-take. Cajita Turbo pays 13% annually on deposits up to $25,000 MXN, with the money still fully liquid — no locking it away for months.

The only requirement: make at least one purchase per month with either your Nu credit or debit card (any amount). Which, as you’ll see below, happens automatically in our house whether we think about it or not.

Tarjeta de Crédito Nu — and its secured sibling

The Nu credit card has $0 annual fee. It’s a real credit card that reports to the Mexican credit bureau — which matters, because building Mexican credit history is one of the harder parts of setting up life here.

If you’re not approved for the regular card right away (or you want a higher limit than they offer), there’s the Tarjeta Garantizada: a secured version where you move money into a dedicated Cajita, that deposit becomes your credit limit, and it keeps earning returns while it sits there. Spend, pay on time, and your history — and limit — grows.

The Killer Feature Nobody Talks About: Bills on Autopilot

Here’s what actually made Nu indispensable for us: automatic bill payments on the credit card.

Our CFE electricity bill and our internet bill are both registered to charge the Nu card automatically every month. No standing in line at OXXO with a fistful of pesos, no logging into clunky utility portals, no late fees because a bill slipped our minds while we were travelling.

The card gets charged → we pay the card in full → those purchases count toward keeping our Cajita Turbo active at 13% → the savings earn more than most Canadian accounts. It’s a little closed loop that runs itself, and honestly it’s one of the things that makes Mexico life feel settled rather than makeshift.

Deposits are insured by IPAB (Mexico’s deposit insurance) up to 400,000 UDIs, for whatever peace of mind that’s worth.

If You Want to Try It: Our Invitation Link

Fair warning, because we believe in being upfront: Nu’s invitation program doesn’t give you a cash bonus. According to Nu, applying through an existing customer’s invitation gives you better odds of being approved — Nu controls how many cards it issues, and applying via a community member’s invite carries more weight than a cold application. We may receive a small referral reward under whatever promotion Nu happens to be running at the time.

If you’re a Mexican resident and want to give it a shot:

Apply for a Nu account with our invitation

It costs you nothing either way — $0 annual fee on the card, and the application takes a few minutes.

Need to get Canadian dollars into Mexico to fund the account? See how we send money to Mexico with Wise + EQ Bank.