Intense Competition: The Brazilian fintech market is highly competitive, with numerous players including traditional banks, established fintechs, and new entrants, which could lead to pricing pressure, reduced market share, and increased customer acquisition costs.

Regulatory Changes: Stoneco operates in a highly regulated financial services industry in Brazil, and adverse changes in regulations related to payment processing, lending, data privacy, or capital requirements could significantly impact its operations and business model.

Credit Portfolio Quality: As Stoneco expands its credit offerings to SMBs, it faces inherent credit risk. A deterioration in the economic environment or specific industry downturns could lead to an increase in non-performing loans and loan losses.