StoneCo Ltd

The following is a glossary of certain industry and other defined terms used in this annual report:

“ABECS” means the Brazilian Association of Credit Card and Services Companies (Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Cartões de Crédito e Serviços).

“Active Client” includes MSMBs (micro, small and medium businesses) as well as Key Accounts. Considers a merchant that has completed at least one electronic payment transaction with us within the preceding 90 days, except for TON, where we consider merchants that have transacted at least once with us in the preceding 12 months.

“Acquirer” means a payment institution that, without managing payment accounts, provides the following services: (1) accreditation of receivers for the acceptance of payment instruments issued by a payment institution or financial institution participating in the same payment scheme; and (2) participation in the settlement process of payment transactions as a creditor with respect to the Card Issuer, in accordance with the rules of the payment scheme. The Acquirer receives the transaction details from the merchant’s terminal, passes them to the Card Issuer for authorization via the payment scheme and completes the processing of the transaction. The Acquirer arranges settlement of the transaction and credits the merchant’s bank account with the funds in accordance with its service agreement with the merchant. The Acquirer also processes any Chargebacks that may be received via the Card Issuer regarding consumer transactions with merchants.

“ANPD” means the National Data Protection Authority (Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados).

“APIs” means application programming interfaces, a set of clearly defined methods of communication between different software components, which, together with our SDKs and other tools, enables developers and resellers to create applications that can easily connect and integrate with our payment processing technology platform.

“APMs” means alternative payment methods, and includes any payment method used by customers that is not a credit or debit transaction involving a major payment scheme. APMs include, but are not limited to, local meal voucher schemes and payment slips (Boletos).

“Articles of Association” means StoneCo’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association adopted by special resolution passed on October 11, 2018, as amended on a Special Resolution passed on August 29, 2023.

“BDRs” means Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDR).

“Board” or “Board of Directors” means the board of directors of StoneCo.

“Banking” refers to our digital bank solution and includes insurance products.

“Banking Active Clients”: clients who have transacted at least R$1 in the past 30 days.

“Boleto” means a printable document issued by merchants that is used to make payments in Brazil. Payment slips (Boletos) can be used to pay bills for products or services, utilities or taxes. Each payment slip (Boleto) refers to a specific merchant and customer transaction, and includes the merchant’s name, customer information, expiration date and total amount due, plus a serial number that identifies the account to be credited and a barcode so the entire document can be read and processed by a Brazilian ATM. A payment slip (Boleto) can be paid in cash at a bank teller, at an ATM or by bank transfer. Our payment platform and merchant account can be used to pay payment slips (Boletos).

“BNDES” means the Brazilian Economic and Social Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social).

“Cardholder” means an applicant (either an individual or an entity) for a credit, prepaid or debit card that has been approved by a Card Issuer. The Cardholder may use their card at any affiliated merchant.

“Card Brand” means the name of the payment scheme settlor that is printed on the issued branded credit, debit and/or prepaid cards.

“Card Issuer” means a payment institution or a financial institution that acts as issuer of cards and administrator of prepaid/postpaid payment accounts or deposit accounts operated by such institutions in a certain payment scheme and that meets the brand qualification requirements to issue branded credit, debit and/or prepaid cards. Card Issuers are also responsible for collecting amounts spent with branded credit, debit and/or prepaid cards from Cardholders.

“CDI” means the Brazilian interbank deposit (certificado de deposito interbancário).

“CDI Rate” means the rate of the CDI, which is an average of interbank overnight rates in Brazil.

“Chargeback” means a claim where the consumer makes a purchase using a payment card and subsequently requests a reversal of the transaction amount from the Card Issuer on the basis of a commercial claim (for example, if the goods are not delivered, or are delivered damaged). Chargebacks occur more frequently in online transactions than in in-person transactions, and more frequently for goods than for services.

“CMN” means the Brazilian National Monetary Council (Conselho Monetário Nacional).

“COFINS” means the Brazilian government’s social security program (Contribuição para o Financiamento da Seguridade Social).

“Consolidated Financial Statements” means our audited annual consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

“Coverage ratio” is calculated as accumulated loan loss provision expenses over NPL over 90 days.

“Cayman Companies Act” means the Companies Act (as revised) of the Cayman Islands.

“CVM” means the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários).

“Digital” solutions concentrate our OMS, e-commerce platform, ads and impulse solutions such as search, recommendation, reengagement and retargeting tools.

“ERP” means enterprise resource planning.

“eWallet” means a digital wallet that offers clients the ability to make payments online using a variety of payment methods, including credit or debit cards, without having to type in the card details each time.

“Exchange Act” means the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

“FIDC” means a Receivables Investment Fund (Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditórios), an investment fund legal structure established under Brazilian law designed specifically for investing in credit rights receivables. FIDCs (and quotas representing interests therein) are regulated by the rules and regulations of the CMN and the CVM; in particular Resolution No. 2,907/01 of the CMN, and CVM Instruction No. 356/01, as amended from time to time, including by CVM Instruction No. 489/11 and CVM Instruction No. 531/13.

“Financial Services” refers to the combination of our financial services solutions to clients, serving both MSMBs and Key Accounts and includes payments, digital banking and credit.

“gateway” means an online application that connects an e-commerce point of sale to the payment processor enabling online payment transactions.

“heavy user” is an Active Client that uses three or more financial services solutions.

“Hubcount” means Hubcount Tecnologia S.A., a subsidiary of Questor.

“ICMS” means the tax on distribution of goods and services (Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços).

“integrated partners” means PSPs, ISVs and marketplaces.

“interchange fee” means a fee paid by the Acquirer to the Card Issuer (via the payment scheme settlors) for a transaction established in the scope of a payment scheme.

“IPCA” National Consumer Price Index (Índice Nacional de Preços ao Consumidor Amplo), which is published by the IBGE.

“IPO” means our initial public offering.

“ISS” means the Municipal Tax on Services (Imposto Sobre Serviços).

“ISV” means integrated software vendor.

“Key Accounts” refers to operations in which Pagar.me acts as a fintech infrastructure provider for different types of clients, especially larger ones, such as mature e-commerce and digital platforms, commonly delivering financial services via APIs. We breakdown Key Accounts into sub-acquirer clients and platform service clients.

“Linx” means Linx S.A. and its subsidiaries.

“marketplace” means digital platforms that enable sellers and buyers in specific market segments to connect more effectively.

“merchant” means any person, entity or organization that accepts electronic payment transactions for the payment of goods or services.

“Merchant Discount Rate” or “MDR” means the fee or commission paid by merchants for the service of capturing, processing, transmitting and settling transactions. The merchant discount rate is applied to the value of each Cardholder’s transaction and includes the interchange fee.

“membership fees” refer to the upfront fee paid by merchants for all Ton offerings and specific ones for Stone when they join our client base.

“MSMB” refers to micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

“Nasdaq” means the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

“Net Merchant Discount Rate” or “Net MDR” means the total MDR charged to our merchants, net of interchange fees retained by Card Issuers, assessment fees charged by payment scheme settlors and sales taxes.

“Non-allocated” comprises other smaller businesses which are not allocated in our Financial Services or Software segments.

“NPS” means Net Promoter Score and is a widely known survey methodology that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products and services. It is used to gauge customers’ overall satisfaction with a company’s products and services and their loyalty to the brand, and it is typically based on customer surveys. NPS measures satisfaction using a scale of zero to 10 based on a customer’s response to the following question: “How likely is it that you would recommend StoneCo to a friend or colleague?” Responses of nine or 10 are considered “Promoters.” Responses of seven or eight are considered neutral. Responses of six or less are considered “Detractors.” The NPS, a percentage expressed as a numerical value, is calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents who are Detractors from the percentage who are Promoters and dividing that number by the total number of respondents. The NPS calculation gives no weight to customers who decline to answer the survey question.

“OMS” by using our OMS (Order Management System) technology, retailers can meet orders originating from any channel, regardless of where the product is located. Our OMS offers multichannel purchasing processes that integrate stores, franchises and distribution centers, thereby providing a single channel for our customers that decreases inventory shortage and generates more consumer traffic and increased sales.

“Partner Program” is a sales channel that encompasses a range of client segments that distribute our solutions by integrating our payments and banking platform to their own offerings, such as software providers (ISVs), marketplaces, and e-commerce platforms, having a dedicated team for that.

“payment institution” means a legal entity that participates in one or more payment schemes and is dedicated to executing, as its principal or ancillary activity, those payment services described in article 6, item III, of Law 12,865/13 to Cardholders or merchants, including those activities related to the provision of payment services. Specifically, based on current regulations, the Central Bank has opted to narrow the definition of payment institutions as set out in Law 12,865/13 to include only those entities that can be classified into one of the following three categories: (1) issuer of electronic money (prepaid payment instruments), (2) issuer of postpaid payment instruments (e.g., credit cards), and (3) Acquirers.

“payment scheme” means the collection of rules and procedures that govern payment services provided to the public, with direct access by its end users (i.e., payers and receivers). Such payment services must be accepted by more than one receiver in order to qualify as a payment scheme. A payment scheme is established by and operated by a payment scheme settlor.

“payment scheme settlor” means the entity responsible for the functioning of a payment scheme, for the associated Card Brand and for the authorization of Card Issuers and Acquirers to participate in the payment scheme. Visa and Mastercard are major payment scheme settlors.

“PIS” means the Brazilian government’s Social Integration Program (Programa de Integração Social).

“Pix” is the instant payments ecosystem in Brazil developed and operated by the Central Bank and launched in November 2020, through which individuals and merchants can settle transactions and make purchases instantaneously on a 24/7 basis.

“Pix QR Code” is a peer to merchant (P2M) solution. Considers transactions from dynamic POS QR Code and static QR Code from MSMB and Key Accounts merchants. Both types of PIX can be monetized.

“platform services” is included in key accounts and encompasses a wide range of business models, including marketplaces, e-commerce platforms, software companies and omnichannel retailers.

“POS” means a point of sale where a transaction is completed. “POS devices” allow merchants to accept payments where a sale is made, whether inside an establishment or in outdoor or mobile environments.

“PSP” means payment services providers, which are firms that contract with a merchant to provide them with payment acceptance solutions.

“Questor” means our subsidiary, Questor Sistemas S.A.

“reconciliation provider” means a service provider that integrates with, among other agents, Acquirers and gateways in order to provide to merchants with a reconciliation of receivables resulting from their transactions, Chargebacks and refunds. Equals is a reconciliation provider that offers reconciliation solutions.

“recurring revenue” comprises revenues from monthly subscription fees that we charge our software customers (1) for using our software and (2) the fees we charge for ongoing technical support, help desk services, software hosting services, support teams and connectivity services. The fees (1) and (2) are charged together in a single contract, with an average duration of twelve months, subjected to automatic renewal.

“SCD” means Direct Credit Society (Sociedade de Crédito Direto), which is a financial institution that carries out loan transactions, financing and acquisition of credit rights exclusively through an electronic platform, using its proprietary capital as a financial source for such transactions.

“SDK” means software development kit, which is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for software packages or frameworks, hardware platforms, computer or operating systems or similar development platforms.

“Software” is comprised of three main fronts: (i) Strategic Verticals, comprised of POS/ERP solutions for retail, gas stations, food and drugstores, as well as value added solutions such as fiscal solutions, TEF and CRM; (ii) Enterprise, comprised of POS/ERP solutions for large enterprise clients, as well as digital solutions such as OMS, ads solutions and marketplace hub; (iii) Other Verticals, comprised of POS/ERP solutions in verticals not prioritized for combination with financial services as well as other software solutions.

“SPB” or “Brazilian Payments System” (Sistema de Pagamentos Brasileiro) means all the entities, systems and procedures related to the clearing and settlement of funds transfer, foreign currency operations, financial assets and securities transactions in Brazil. The SPB includes systems in charge of check clearing; the clearing and settlement of electronic debit and credit orders, funds transfer and other financial assets; the clearing and settlement of securities transactions; the clearing and settlement of commodities and futures transactions; and, since the introduction of Brazilian Federal Law No. 12,865/13, dated as of May 17, 2013, payment schemes and payment institutions.

“STNE Invest” means STNE Investimentos S.A.

“STNE Par” means STNE Participações S.A.

“TON” is our solution that is more targeted towards micro merchants and smaller businesses.

“TPV” means total payment volume. Reported TPV figures consider all card volumes settled by StoneCo, including PIX QR Code transactions from dynamic POS QR Code and static QR Code from MSMB and Key Accounts merchants, unless otherwise noted..

“transaction” means, unless the context otherwise requires, any and all electronic payment transactions for the acquisition of goods and services.

“transaction volume” means the volume of transactions captured, processed, transmitted, and settled by Acquirers or any other entity responsible for the settlement of transactions.

“Vitta” means, collectively: (i) Vitta Tecnologia em Saúde S.A.; (ii) VittaPar LLC; (iii) Vitta Corretora de Seguros Ltda.; and (iv) Vitta Serviços em Saúde Ltda.

SIGNATURES

The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this Annual Report on Form 20-F on its behalf.

Consolidated Financial Statements

December 31, 2024 and 2023 and the three years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022

with report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm