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Direct Comparison Between Nubank’s Boxes and Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank Shows Differences in Yield, Limits, Protection, Redemption Periods, and Reveals How Much R$ 5,000 Can Yield in 12 Months in Each Option.
The Boxes and piggy banks have become the “cute name” for fixed income investments that many people use without fully understanding how they work. Behind this friendly language, there are products tied to the CDI, with different rules regarding minimum value, maximum limit, liquidity, and protection for each platform. Understanding these differences is what separates those who just “leave their money there” from those who truly use these tools to their advantage in their financial planning.
In this comparison, Nubank’s Boxes and Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank are placed side by side in four versions: traditional box, turbocharged box, traditional piggy bank, and turbocharged piggy bank. The analysis covers minimum value, limits, money protection, the redemption period, yield in CDI, and a practical simulation of how much R$ 5,000 can become in 12 months in each option.
How Nubank’s Boxes Work
The Nubank’s Boxes are “compartments” within the account where users separate amounts by goals, always tied to investments that yield a percentage of the CDI.
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Brazilian city gains industrial hub for 85 companies that is equivalent to 55 football fields.
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Peugeot and Citroën factory in Argentina cuts production by half and opens a layoff program for more than 2,000 employees after Brazil drastically reduced purchases of Argentine vehicles.
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A Brazilian city gains a factory worth R$ 300 million with the capacity to process 200 thousand tons of wheat per year, a mill of 660 tons/day, silos for 42 thousand tons, and an industrial area of 276 thousand m².
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Havan will leave the shopping mall in Blumenau to inaugurate something that the chain has never done before: a megastore in half-timbered style in the Historic Center of the city, which is expected to be completed in May and change the landscape of local retail.
In traditional Boxes, there is no minimum entry value: it is possible to start with cents or with high values, with no apparent maximum limit according to the information provided by the bank.
The yield of traditional Boxes varies from 100 percent to 104 percent of the CDI, depending on the chosen configuration. The higher the percentage of CDI, the longer the period required to keep the money invested, which reduces the flexibility of redemption.
On the other hand, the box that yields 100 percent of the CDI allows redemption at any time, functioning as a sort of “liquidity reserve” within the digital bank itself.
Turbocharged Box from Nubank: Requirements and Limits
In the case of the Turbocharged Box from Nubank, two restrictions stand out. First, it is not enough to just want to invest: you need to have a minimum monthly movement of R$ 900 in the account, which can be achieved, for example, by using Nubank’s credit card with expenses equal to or greater than that amount.
In addition, the Turbocharged Box has a maximum limit of R$ 5,000. In exchange for this limit and the requirement for movement, it pays a higher percentage of the CDI.
In the scenario used in the simulation, the Turbocharged Box yields 115 percent of the CDI, which corresponds to about 17.14 percent per year, considering a CDI of around 14.90 percent per year.
Among Nubank’s family of Boxes, the turbocharged one offers the highest return, but caps the maximum invested amount at R$ 5,000.
Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank: Traditional and Turbocharged
In the Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank, the logic is similar to that of the Boxes. The traditional piggy bank does not require a minimum entry value and yields 100 percent of the CDI, mirroring the behavior of Nubank’s basic Box.
The turbocharged piggy bank from Mercado Pago requires a minimum monthly movement of R$ 1,000 in the account to unlock the higher yield. It also has a maximum limit of R$ 5,000 and remunerates the balance with 120 percent of the CDI, which, with a CDI in the range of 14.90 percent per year, represents approximately 17.88 percent per year.
At this point, the turbocharged piggy bank surpasses both the traditional Boxes and Nubank’s turbocharged Box in gross yield percentage, even though it remains limited to a relatively low maximum amount for those who have already accumulated more capital.
Protection: FGC vs Public Securities in Boxes and Piggy Banks
In terms of security, Nubank’s Boxes stand out for having FGC protection, the Credit Guarantee Fund, in both the traditional and turbocharged modes. The FGC guarantees up to R$ 250,000 per CPF per financial institution, including the invested amount and the accumulated interest, in case the bank goes bankrupt.
The Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank, on the other hand, is not protected by the FGC, but utilizes a structure in which the user’s money is invested in public securities, such as Tesouro Selic, in a segregated account under the client’s CPF.
This means that the balance is not mixed with the company’s cash but rather linked to federal public debt securities, considered low risk.
It’s not FGC, but it is a form of relevant structural protection, although legally different from the direct protection of Nubank’s Boxes.
Liquidity: When Is It Possible to Withdraw Money
In the traditional Boxes from Nubank that pay 100 percent of the CDI, the money can be withdrawn at any time, making this type of Box an option for daily liquidity.
However, the higher the percentage of the CDI in the Boxes, the longer the required holding period usually is. In some longer configurations, it is not possible to withdraw the value before the maturity date of the underlying product.
In the traditional piggy bank and the turbocharged piggy bank from Mercado Pago, the money can be withdrawn at any time, with no defined maturity and no penalty for early withdrawal, according to the presented rules.
In terms of liquidity, the turbocharged piggy bank has an advantage over Nubank’s turbocharged Box, which usually imposes stricter deadlines to deliver those higher CDI percentages.
Yield: Who Pays More on the CDI Percentage
Summarizing the yield percentages of the Boxes and the piggy banks:
In the Nubank’s Boxes:
Traditional Boxes
100 percent of the CDI up to 104 percent of the CDI
Turbocharged Box
115 percent of the CDI, limited to R$ 5,000 and requiring a minimum monthly movement of R$ 900
In the Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank:
Traditional Piggy Bank
100 percent of the CDI
Turbocharged Piggy Bank
120 percent of the CDI, also limited to R$ 5,000 and with a minimum monthly movement of R$ 1,000
Considering a CDI of approximately 14.90 percent per year, this translates to:
- 100 percent of the CDI: about 14.90 percent per year
- 104 percent of the CDI: something close to 15.5 percent per year
- 115 percent of the CDI: around 17.14 percent per year
- 120 percent of the CDI: approximately 17.88 percent per year
In the yield competition, the turbocharged piggy bank from Mercado Pago delivers the highest percentage above the CDI, followed by Nubank’s turbocharged Box, while the traditional Boxes and the traditional piggy bank remain in the range of 100 to 104 percent of the CDI.
Simulation: How Much R$ 5,000 Becomes in 12 Months in Boxes and Piggy Banks
To visualize the difference, a simulation was made with R$ 5,000 invested for 12 months, without new contributions during the period, considering the indicated yield ranges:
In the Nubank’s Boxes:
Traditional box at 100 percent of the CDI
R$ 5,000 → approximately R$ 5,745 in 1 year
Traditional box close to 104 percent of the CDI
R$ 5,000 → about R$ 5,775
Turbocharged box at 115 percent of the CDI
R$ 5,000 → something close to R$ 5,857
In the Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank:
Traditional piggy bank at 100 percent of the CDI
R$ 5,000 → value similar to the basic Box, around R$ 5,745
Turbocharged piggy bank at 120 percent of the CDI
R$ 5,000 → approximately R$ 5,894 in 12 months
Among the Boxes and piggy banks, the turbocharged piggy bank from Mercado Pago is the one that yields the most in this simulation of R$ 5,000 for 12 months, followed by Nubank’s turbocharged Box.
The traditional Boxes and the traditional piggy bank make up a “second tier” in terms of return, but with no value limit in the case of the basic Boxes.
Income Tax and Comparison with Savings
In all these Boxes and piggy banks tied to the CDI, income tax is charged on the interest, following the regressive table for fixed income investments:
The rate starts at 22.5 percent for redemptions within 6 months
And drops to 15 percent for investments held for more than 2 years
The tax applies only to the yield, not to the principal amount. If R$ 5,000 yields R$ 894, the tax is calculated only on those R$ 894, not on the original R$ 5,000.
Even with income tax, the Boxes and piggy banks tied to the CDI tend to yield a net result superior to that of savings in a scenario of high interest rates.
The mere absence of tax on savings does not compensate for the differential rate when comparing with products that pay 100 percent of the CDI or more.
How to Choose Between Nubank’s Boxes and Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank
When choosing between Nubank’s Boxes and Mercado Pago’s Piggy Bank, it is worth looking beyond just the CDI number on the screen:
Those who value FGC protection and intend, in the future, to exceed the limit of R$ 5,000 invested in that same logic may see more advantage in Nubank’s traditional Boxes, which do not have an evident maximum limit and have the FGC guarantee.
Those looking to maximize yield on a relatively low amount, like R$ 5,000, are likely to be more favorably treated by the turbocharged piggy bank from Mercado Pago at 120 percent of the CDI, as long as they can maintain the required minimum monthly movement of R$ 1,000 set by the platform.
And those who want to combine security, liquidity, and organization by objectives can use the Boxes as an entry point to get out of savings, understanding in practice the effect of the CDI and, gradually, evaluating whether it is worth migrating parts of the money to products with more risk or longer terms in exchange for higher returns.
Thinking about the Boxes, the turbocharged piggy bank, and this simulation of R$ 5,000, would you prioritize the highest protection of the FGC, the highest yield rate at 120 percent of the CDI, or the freedom to invest amounts well above the limit of R$ 5,000?
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