Cash and a foreign Visa or Mastercard cover a short visit, but anyone staying longer needs a Colombian phone number and a digital wallet or bank account to handle everyday payments. At Colombia Desk, we explain how buying, renting and settling in actually work in Colombia, and the payment tools are part of settling in. Colombians pay each other, landlords and neighbourhood shops through instant phone transfers, and pay utility bills or online stores through a debit gateway called PSE.
Popular United States apps such as Zelle, Venmo and Cash App do not send money to Colombian bank accounts, and Colombian PayPal accounts cannot send money between two people inside the country.
Every Way to Pay in Colombia, Compared
The table lists every way to pay in Colombia, what a foreigner needs for each, and where the full guide lives.
| Method | What it is for | What a foreigner needs | Speed | Cost to you | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash (Efectivo) | Street vendors, small grocery shops, taxis and small tips | Colombian pesos withdrawn from an ATM | Immediate | Not published | Cash guide |
| Foreign credit or debit card | Supermarkets, sit-down restaurants, shopping malls and hotels | Physical Visa or Mastercard card | Immediate | Not published | Card guide |
| Apple Pay or Google Pay | Contactless payments at card terminals in larger stores | Phone with NFC, supported card from home or local bank | Immediate | Not published | Card guide |
| Bre-B transfer to a llave | Instant payments between different banks and wallets using phone numbers or IDs | Registered Colombian account or wallet, plus a recipient llave | Within 20 seconds | Free for individual users | Bre-B guide |
| Ordinary bank transfer (ACH) | Paying rent, large invoices or balances above the Bre-B transaction cap | Colombian savings or checking account | Same day in business hours, or next business day | Not published | Bank guide |
| Nequi | Mobile phone payments, street food, bills, Bre-B and PSE debit | Cédula de extranjería or PPT, Colombian SIM card, smartphone | Immediate to Nequi and Bre-B | Free account maintenance and free domestic transfers | Nequi guide |
| DaviPlata | Mobile transfers, cash withdrawals, online debit and Bre-B | Cédula de extranjería or PPT, Colombian SIM card, smartphone | Immediate to DaviPlata and Bre-B | Free account maintenance and free domestic transfers | DaviPlata guide |
| PSE (Pagos Seguros en Línea) | Paying utility bills, taxes, flights, apartment admin and online shopping | Colombian bank account, Nequi or DaviPlata, plus PSE registration | Up to 21 minutes | Free for payer | PSE guide |
| Efecty and corresponsales | Paying paper utility bills, public taxes or adding cash to a digital wallet | Cash in pesos and a printed bill with a barcode | Not published | Free for public utility bill payments | Section below |
| Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal | Not for paying people in Colombia | Not usable for local payments | Not applicable | Not applicable | US apps section |
Which Method to Use When
During your first two weeks on a tourist entry stamp, rely on a physical foreign credit card with no foreign transaction fee alongside physical cash withdrawn from a local ATM. This combination does not work for paying a local private landlord or paying utility bills online. For those tasks, tourists without local documents can pay printed bills in cash at an Efecty point or a bank corresponsal.
To pay rent directly to a property owner, use an ordinary bank transfer or a Bre-B payment. Check your wallet’s Bre-B cap first: Nequi and DaviPlata stop at COP 3,000,000 per transfer, so a larger rent payment needs a bank account or several transfers.
To pay a cleaner, a plumber or a market stall, send a Bre-B transfer to their llave or scan their Bre-B QR code. Nequi, DaviPlata and Bancolombia can all generate and read these codes in the app. Bre-B is free and lands within 20 seconds, but it only works if you already have a Colombian wallet or account. Without one, pay these people in cash.
Utility bills, building administration fees and domestic flight bookings are handled online through PSE. Local municipal utility portals such as Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) route online payments through PSE rather than foreign credit cards. If you do not yet have a Colombian bank account or digital wallet to authorize PSE, you must print the invoice and pay in cash at an Efecty point or a bank corresponsal counter.
In supermarkets, sit-down restaurants and malls, a foreign card works. The Government of Canada says cards are widely accepted, but it warns that card fraud is frequent. At the datáfono, answer “una” when asked for cuotas and choose to pay in pesos. Our card and cash guide explains both prompts and what to do about a card surcharge.
Transfers: Bre-B, Llaves and Ordinary Bank Transfers
Instant domestic transfers in Colombia operate through the central bank’s national payment network, called Bre-B. The Banco de la República designed Bre-B as an interoperable instant payment platform connecting about 245 financial entities, including commercial banks, financial cooperatives and digital wallets. Full mass operation began on Monday, 6 October 2025, following a phased launch regulated under Banrep’s Resolución Externa 6 de 2023 and Circular Reglamentaria Externa DSP-465.
The system operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no cut-off hours on weekends or bank holidays according to Bancolombia. Central bank regulations require 99.5% of all transactions to settle within a maximum window of 20 seconds.
To receive a Bre-B transfer you register a llave in your bank or wallet app: your phone number, document number, email or an @ handle. Each llave can sit at only one bank or wallet at a time. Nequi does not accept a PPT number as a llave. Our Bre-B guide walks through registering one.
You only need a registered llave to receive money. To send money through Bre-B, you simply type in the recipient’s llave inside your own mobile banking app. Unlike the older Transfiya protocol, which required recipients to accept incoming transfers, Banco de la República confirms that Bre-B transfers credit automatically to the receiving account.
Transfers sent over Bre-B are free of charge for individual consumers, according to Noticias RCN. Banrep established a transfer limit of 1,000 UVB (Unidad de Valor Básico) per operation. The Ministerio de Hacienda set the 2026 UVB at COP 12,110 through Resolución 3488 de 2025. At that value, 1,000 UVB comes to COP 12,110,000 per transfer in 2026.
Individual institutions can enforce lower operational thresholds below the national cap. For example, Nequi restricts outgoing Bre-B transfers to a maximum of COP 3,000,000 per transaction. DaviPlata also caps Bre-B transfers at COP 3,000,000. In October 2026, Noticias RCN reported that the central bank published a regulatory proposal to evaluate raising limits above 1,000 UVB for larger transfers that would otherwise go through ACH cycles, though no new limit has been adopted.
Standard interbank transfers outside Bre-B run through the traditional clearinghouse, ACH Colombia. Traditional ACH transfers operate exclusively on business days. As outlined on Bancolombia’s help portal, interbank transfers sent to another bank are processed in cycles during business hours. At Bancolombia, transfers sent after 5:30 p.m. or at weekends clear on the next business day by 1:00 p.m. Other banks set their own cut-offs. BBVA Colombia notes that interbank transfers can take up to 1 to 2 business days depending on the system used. If you need to send funds immediately outside regular banking hours, use a Bre-B llave or transfer to an account held at the same bank.
Register llaves only inside your bank’s own app. Bre-B has no app or social accounts of its own (Banco de la República via Noticias RCN).
Wallets: Nequi and DaviPlata
Nequi and DaviPlata are the two wallets most Colombians use to pay each other.
Nequi operates as an independent financing company, Nequi S.A. Compañía de Financiamiento, supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera, which authorized it in Resolución 2002 of 2025. Foreigners can open a Nequi account if they are at least 18 years of age, live in Colombia, hold a Colombian mobile line and possess a valid physical Cédula de Extranjería (CE) or a Permiso por Protección Temporal (PPT). Foreign passports are not included in Nequi’s official list of eligible identification documents.
Our Nequi guide covers sign-up step by step. New accounts operate as a low-amount electronic deposit (depósito de bajo monto).
According to Nequi’s help centre, a depósito de bajo monto carries a strict regulatory movement ceiling of 210.50 UVT per month, which equals COP 11,024,727 in 2026. This cap covers your cumulative monthly balance, deposits and withdrawals combined. While Colombian citizens can upgrade their profile to an unrestricted savings account (cuenta de ahorros) directly in the app, Nequi’s documentation currently lists only the national Cédula de Ciudadanía as eligible for this status conversion.
DaviPlata, offered by Banco Davivienda S.A., provides a similar mobile wallet service. Foreigners can register in the DaviPlata app using a physical Cédula de Extranjería or PPT alongside a local mobile phone line.
Under DaviPlata’s official fee schedule, the standard account operates as an electronic deposit capped at 210.50 UVT (COP 11,024,727) in total monthly movements for 2026. Account creation costs nothing, and Bre-B transfers cost COP 0 up to COP 3,000,000 per transfer. Our Nequi vs DaviPlata comparison sets out cash withdrawal and card costs side by side.
Both wallets work well for paying people and bills inside Colombia. If you plan to transfer large sums for property acquisitions or corporate investments, these mobile wallets will not fit your needs due to their statutory balance limits.
Paying Bills and Online Shops With PSE
Pagos Seguros en Línea, known as PSE, is Colombia’s standardized electronic payment gateway. Developed by ACH Colombia S.A., PSE allows individuals to pay for services, government procedures and e-commerce purchases by authorizing a direct debit from their local checking, savings or electronic deposit account.
In a June 2026 interview with La República, ACH Colombia’s president said PSE processed about 83 million transactions in April 2026.
The PSE platform enforces strict operating parameters:
- PSE debits funds exclusively from savings, checking and electronic deposit accounts; credit cards cannot be processed through the PSE interface.
- Payments are completely free for the consumer.
- PSE says transactions take up to 21 minutes to process.
Nequi and DaviPlata both work as the paying account in PSE, so a wallet is enough to pay a bill online. You register once at PSE, then approve each payment inside your bank or wallet app. Our PSE guide shows each screen.
Two official portals accept PSE. The Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN) accepts PSE for paying national taxes after generating the official Formulario 490 payment receipt. Some Migración Colombia fees can also be paid online through a third-party processor that offers PSE alongside credit cards.
Because PSE relies entirely on the domestic banking clearing network, foreign bank accounts cannot connect to the gateway.
Paying in Cash Without an Account
Foreigners living in Colombia without a local bank account or digital wallet must often pay household utility bills, rental administration fees or online purchases in physical cash. This runs through Efecty and bank corresponsales.
Efecty is a Colombian company founded in 1996 that offers money transfers, bill payments and mobile top-ups. Portafolio reports that Efecty maintains more than 9,000 service points nationwide. Customers can use Efecty to pay public utility bills, municipal taxes, domestic money orders (giros) and private company invoices. Efecty says paying bills at its points is free for the user, and it lists more than 450 billing agreements (convenios).
To collect a giro sent to you, Efecty asks a foreigner for an original cédula de extranjería, and it does not list a passport.
Corresponsales bancarios provide another widespread cash payment alternative. Under Decreto 2233 de 2006, corresponsales are third-party businesses contracted to execute banking operations on behalf of financial institutions. BBVA Colombia cites industry data from 2023 or earlier showing that 56% of transactions at corresponsales are payments, 23% are cash withdrawals and 20% are deposits.
Corresponsales allow you to handle basic financial transactions without visiting a bank branch:
- Pay municipal electricity, water, gas and internet bills by presenting the printed paper invoice with its barcode.
- Deposit cash into Nequi at a Bancolombia corresponsal (COP 10,000 to COP 3,000,000 per deposit) or a Nequi corresponsal (up to COP 1,000,000, or COP 300,000 at Puntored in Farmatodo). Limits depend on the cash each point holds.
- Pay national DIAN taxes in cash at authorized Davivienda or Citibank corresponsales using the printed Formulario 490 payment receipt.
- Withdraw cash using temporary app authorization codes.
Each corresponsal can only pay out or accept what its cash drawer allows, so a large deposit or withdrawal may need a bigger point or a bank branch.
United States Apps That Do Not Work Here
Many newcomers to Colombia expect to pay friends, flatmates and service providers using familiar peer-to-peer mobile apps from the United States. None of them works for paying someone inside Colombia.
Zelle operates strictly within the domestic United States banking network. Both the sender and the recipient must maintain accounts with United States financial institutions or credit unions. You cannot connect a Colombian bank account to Zelle, and you cannot send a Zelle payment to a Colombian phone number to settle local expenses.
Venmo enforces geographic access limitations. Venmo’s official documentation states that users will not be able to log in to their Venmo accounts while located outside the United States. Venmo directs customers travelling abroad to use PayPal for their cross-border payments.
Cash App restricts its core peer-to-peer money transfer network to domestic users in the United States and the United Kingdom. Senders cannot transfer funds to Colombian residents over Cash App. The only component of Cash App that operates in Colombia is the physical Cash App Card, which functions as an ordinary Visa debit card at local payment terminals and ATMs subject to Cash App’s 3% international transaction fee (Cash App Green customers may have it waived for card-present purchases).
PayPal Colombia operates in Colombia, but its user agreement limits what Colombian accounts can do. Since 1 September 2015, PayPal user agreements dictate that Colombian PayPal accounts may only send and receive international payments. Two individuals resident in Colombia cannot use PayPal to transfer money to one another.
PayPal accounts in Colombia can receive international payments and transfer funds to a local bank account. As of 28 September 2026, PayPal’s consumer fee schedule lists a withdrawal fee of COP 3,500 for transfers to local Colombian bank accounts. In addition, PayPal applies a currency conversion markup for the Americas region of 4.5% above the base exchange rate when sending payments and 3.5% for currency conversions when transferring funds into local accounts.
If you need to move money from an account in the United States into Colombia to fund your daily living expenses or top up a local wallet, use dedicated cross-border transfer services. Compare the exchange rate markups and delivery times between providers in our Wise vs Remitly comparison or our guide on how to send money to Colombia from the USA.
The 4x1000 Tax on Account Movements
Colombia charges a 4x1000 tax (GMF), COP 4 per COP 1,000, on withdrawals, transfers and payments. On a Nequi or DaviPlata low-amount wallet it applies once your monthly movements pass 65 UVT (COP 3,404,310 in 2026). On a savings account marked exempt it applies above 350 UVT (COP 18,330,900), and only one account can be marked exempt across all banks, per Nequi. Our guide to sending money from Colombia to the USA covers the tax in detail.
How to Set Up Your Payments Step by Step
Establishing your financial setup in Colombia requires completing administrative steps in a specific sequence. Nequi and DaviPlata both need a cédula de extranjería or PPT, so the document comes before the wallet.
Follow this practical roadmap to build your local payment setup:
- Get a Colombian SIM card immediately upon arrival. Nequi and DaviPlata both require a Colombian mobile line, a 10-digit number starting with 3.
- Apply for your Cédula de Extranjería. If you hold a long-term qualifying visa, complete your registration appointment with Migración Colombia to obtain your physical CE card. Learn what documents are required in our Cédula de Extranjería walkthrough.
- Download Nequi or DaviPlata. Once your physical CE or PPT is in hand, install Nequi or DaviPlata. Complete the biometric facial verification and mobile phone validation to activate your low-amount deposit.
- Register your Bre-B llave. Open your active wallet app, navigate to the Bre-B settings menu and register your local mobile number or document number as your primary llave. This allows friends, clients and flatmates to send you instant, free transfers from any Colombian financial institution.
- Register your profile on PSE. Visit the official PSE registration portal and create a user profile with your email and ID number (PSE does not publish which foreign ID types it accepts) so you can pay utility bills, apartment administration and online retail charges via direct account debit.
- Open a formal bank account when financial needs expand. If your recurring monthly expenses, property purchases or investment transfers exceed the COP 11,024,727 regulatory ceiling on digital wallets, open a traditional savings or checking account with a full-service institution. Our guide to opening a bank account in Colombia outlines which commercial branches accept foreign clients.
If you want experienced, on-the-ground support navigating visa documentation, housing contracts or daily settlement logistics, explore our relocation concierge services or reach out to our team to discuss your plans.