By Valentine Hilaire

MEXICO CITY Nubank, one of Latin America's biggest fintech companies, announced on Tuesday the launch of personal loans for the Mexican market, aiming to boost its financial services portfolio in the region's second-largest economy.

The new product will allow customers to obtain personal loans in less than five minutes through its platform, the digital bank's Mexican arm, known as Nu Mexico, said in a statement.

The service will be available to employees on a test mode before hitting the market in the following months, it added.

The announcement follows the bank's launch of savings accounts in Mexico earlier this year, which it said had more than one million users after a month.

"Around 20% of the adult population connected by smartphones in Mexico has already applied to a Nu product. We look forward to continuing to expand our footprint in the country," said the fintech's Mexico head, Ivan Canales.

Brazil's Nubank reported last month a record revenue of $1.9 billion for the second quarter, which it attributed to a spike in new customers.

Executives from the fintech firm told Reuters last month Mexico is the market showing more potential for growth, and the company is ready to roll out products at a faster pace next year.

Nubank listed its shares in New York in late 2021. The stock has surged nearly 80% so far this year.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Sandra Maler)