Been looking at fintech plays lately and honestly, the more I dig into this space, the more I realize some of these best finance companies are absolutely crushing traditional banking.

So here's what caught my attention. You've got this shift happening where younger people are just abandoning brick-and-mortar banks entirely. They want everything digital, all in one place. That's where companies like SoFi and Nu come in.

Let me break down SoFi first. Started back in 2011 just doing student loans, but they've basically turned themselves into this all-in-one financial platform. Student loans, mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, insurance, crypto trading, stock trading - it's all there. They grabbed Galileo in 2020 to power their payment processing, then got their bank charter in 2022. By end of 2021 they had 2.5 million members. Now we're talking 12.6 million members by Q3 2025 with 18.6 million products in use. That's not just growth, that's explosive expansion.

The interesting part? Even with all the headwinds they faced - frozen student loan payments, rising rates - they kept scaling. Now those pressures are easing and they're pivoting toward fee-based services instead of just interest income. Analysts are projecting 23% revenue growth and 38% adjusted EBITDA growth from 2025-2027. At 19 times this year's EBITDA with a $31.5B enterprise value, it doesn't look overpriced for a fintech that's still accelerating.

Now Nu Holdings is a different beast but equally compelling. Founded in 2013, they own NuBank which basically dominates Latin America's digital banking. Here's the thing - when they started, huge portions of Latin America were completely unbanked. Nu convinced millions of people to skip traditional banks entirely and go straight to digital.

Their numbers are wild. From end of 2021 to Q3 2025, they went from 53.9 million customers to 127 million. Their active user rate climbed from 76% to 83%. They've been layering in lending, e-commerce integration, crypto tools. Operating across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia with serious runway left.

The kicker? They just applied for a U.S. bank charter. That could open up an entirely new market for them. Analysts expect 30% revenue growth and 37% EPS growth through 2027. Latin America's fintech market is supposed to expand at 15.1% annually through 2034 as more people get internet access and income rises. As an early mover, Nu could realistically add tens of millions more users this decade.

Yeah, Nu trades at 46 times earnings which sounds pricey, but when you look at the TAM and their positioning in some of the best finance companies operating in emerging markets, there's serious upside potential.

Both of these are exactly the kind of fintech plays that should outpace traditional banks for years. Worth keeping on your radar if you're thinking about where to deploy capital.