To pay with PSE in Colombia, register once at registro.pse.com.co, then choose PSE at checkout and approve the debit inside your bank’s online banking. At Colombia Desk, our concierge works for foreigners moving to Medellín or Bogotá, and both EPM’s utility portal and DIAN tax payments offer PSE.
PSE connects online merchants directly to Colombian savings, checking, and electronic-deposit accounts for bank-to-bank debits. PSE says it is free for the payer and sets no limit of its own, and your bank sets the cap. A foreign credit card or foreign bank account cannot be used.
How to Pay With PSE, Step by Step
You need three things before your first PSE payment, and you register only once.
1. Gather What You Need First
The PSE setup guide lists them:
- An active savings, checking, or electronic-deposit account at a Colombian financial institution linked to PSE.
- An operational email address.
- Active online banking access credentials with your bank to approve the transaction.
Credit cards do not work through PSE. The PSE help center says PSE is only for clients with savings or checking (debit) accounts. If you only have a foreign card, some merchants take cards separately from PSE; our guide to credit cards and cash in Colombia covers where cards work.
2. Register Once on the Official Portal
You register through the PSE registration portal. On that page, select “Persona Natural” for an individual account or “Persona Jurídica” for a registered company.
The registration asks for your contact details and an identification number. PSE does not ask for bank details or account numbers when you register, meaning you register once rather than creating separate profiles for each bank. The two official guides disagree on one point: whether you create a PSE password. PSE’s first-payment page says you do not need one. Nequi’s registration guide has you create a username and password, confirm your email through the link PSE sends, pick a bank and accept the terms. Follow the on-screen prompts shown on the registration form when signing up.
3. Check Out on the Merchant Site
At the seller’s checkout screen, select the payment option marked “PSE” or “Pagos PSE”. Select “Persona Natural” and enter the exact email address you registered in PSE.
If you bank with Bancolombia, their PSE payment instructions give this path (other banks’ screens differ):
- Select “PSE Personas” on the merchant checkout screen.
- Enter your registered email address and proceed to the Bancolombia “Sucursal Virtual Personas”.
- Enter your username and your primary password (“Clave Principal”).
- Input your secondary digital code (“Clave Dinámica”).
- Pick the debit account you wish to draw funds from.
- Verify transaction details, click confirm, and save or download the digital receipt.
If you pay from a Nequi wallet, the Nequi PSE guide gives this path:
- Choose “Pagos PSE”, enter the email registered in PSE and click “Ir al Banco”.
- Pick “Nequi” in the bank list.
- Log in with your phone number and Nequi password.
- Confirm with your clave dinámica, review the amount and tap “Paga”.
4. Receive the CUS Confirmation Code
When the transaction finishes, PSE emails its status to your registered address. The email includes a tracking number called the CUS, and Nequi says an approved payment arrives with the subject “PSE - Transacción Aprobada”. Keep that email: if a payment goes wrong, give the CUS number to your bank or the merchant so they can trace it.
What PSE Is in Colombia
PSE stands for “Pagos Seguros en Línea” (Secure Online Payments). It is an online payment button that lets you pay by authorizing a debit from your savings, checking or electronic-deposit account through your bank’s online banking.
PSE is a product of ACH Colombia, a financial-technology company supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. According to ACH Colombia’s website, in 1997 it and several financial institutions launched the first digital transfer network between different banks. In a June 2026 interview with La República, ACH Colombia president Gustavo Vega said PSE processed about 83 million transactions in April 2026.
PSE is a different system from Bre-B: PSE pays a merchant from your bank account, while Bre-B moves money between people and businesses using a “llave” (see how Bre-B works in Colombia).
Paying With Nequi or DaviPlata Instead of a Bank
Foreign residents without a Colombian checking or savings account can still pay with PSE from a Nequi or DaviPlata wallet. Both Nequi and DaviPlata appear in PSE’s bank list at checkout.
| Digital Wallet | How to Select at Checkout | Authorization Method |
|---|---|---|
| Nequi | Select “Nequi” in the financial institution drop-down list | Enter mobile number and account password, then validate via the in-app Clave Dinámica |
| DaviPlata | Select “DaviPlata” in the financial institution drop-down list | Confirm through the notification on the phone where DaviPlata is installed |
Nequi and DaviPlata both say you can pay with them wherever a merchant accepts PSE. Nequi adds that you must first be registered in PSE.
To open a wallet as a foreigner, see our guide to Nequi for foreigners. To choose between the two wallets, see Nequi vs DaviPlata.
Transaction Limits and Service Costs
PSE says the service is free for the payer, and your own bank sets how much you can pay.
The PSE help center calls the service “totalmente gratuito” for the payer and says to take any PSE charge up with your own bank. Bancolombia’s PSE help page (May 2025) says there is no additional cost. A merchant may add its own convenience fee, which PSE’s free-for-the-payer statement does not cover, so look at the total before you approve.
Limits come from your bank:
- PSE sets no limit of its own on the number or amount of payments.
- You can set your own caps in your bank’s online portal.
- For Bancolombia clients, Bancolombia’s limits page (dated August 2024) puts the default limit for third-party payments at $2,400,000 COP, which you can raise to $30,000,000 COP a day. Bill payments are capped at 30 a month.
- Portafolio in September 2025 reported the same $30,000,000 COP daily maximum for Bancolombia and gives no PSE limit for any other bank.
Check your limit in your bank’s app before a large payment such as an annual tax bill or a rental deposit.
What You Pay With PSE as a Foreigner
Three official payment portals offer PSE: the DIAN for national taxes, Migración Colombia for some immigration fees, and EPM for Medellín utilities.
The DIAN tax payment guide lists “Pagos Seguros en Línea o PSE” as an electronic way to pay national taxes from a checking or savings account. You first generate the payment receipt (Formulario 490) in the DIAN’s system, then pay through the authorized collecting bank you choose.
EPM, Medellín’s utility company, offers a PSE button in its Factura Web portal; EPM’s Factura Web terms say PSE payments run over a secure, encrypted session and that PSE is a platform outside EPM.
Some immigration fees can be paid with PSE: Migración Colombia’s online payment FAQ lists it as one payment method. The same FAQ describes PSE as “débitos desde cuentas de ahorros y corrientes en Colombia” (debits from savings and checking accounts in Colombia) and lists credit cards as a separate method.
Without a Colombian account or wallet, use the credit-card option on the same Migración Colombia payment page, which lists Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Credencial and Diners. To get an account, read our guide on how to open a bank account in Colombia.
When a Payment Fails or Stays Pending
The PSE platform FAQ notes that payments can take up to 21 minutes to fully process. If the screen still shows “pendiente”, wait for PSE’s status email before paying again, and ask your bank if no email arrives.
If a payment shows as rejected but the money left your account, PSE’s help center says to ask your bank for the refund. Give the bank the CUS number from the email. Refund policies vary between institutions:
- Nequi’s refund policy terms state that when a purchase shows “Rechazado con PSE”, debited funds automatically return to your active Nequi balance on the following business day.
- If a transaction shows “Aprobado con PSE”, Nequi cannot reverse the debit; you must arrange a refund directly with the merchant.
- For Migración Colombia payments that did not finish, go back to step one and choose another payment method. If no confirmation email arrived, contact citizen service to confirm the status.
Staying Safe When Paying Online
Nequi’s PSE guide gives four security tips:
- Verify the URL bar displays the correct merchant address alongside an active secure padlock before entering data.
- Never share your clave dinámica. Nequi says it will never ask for it by chat, email or call.
- Process all digital payments through a private, secured internet network rather than open public Wi-Fi.
- Cancel the checkout and verify legitimacy with the merchant if any screen layout or payment prompt appears altered.
PSE’s security page says PSE holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for its information-security management, and ACH Colombia monitors transactions centrally to detect fraud patterns.
Paying in Cash Instead
Without a Colombian bank account or wallet, you can still pay some bills and taxes in cash.
Efecty is a Colombian bill-payment and money-transfer chain, and Portafolio reported in October 2024 that it has more than 9,000 points nationwide. Efecty’s FAQ says paying public and private service bills at its points is free (“el servicio es gratuito para el usuario”).
Another physical option is an authorized banking agent (“corresponsal bancario”). Under Decreto 2233 de 2006, corresponsales are commercial businesses contracted to process financial services, collections, and cash deposits on behalf of supervised banks.
These cash points also serve taxpayers and wallet users:
- The DIAN tax payment terms allow individuals to pay taxes in cash at the bank agents (corresponsales bancarios) of the two banks the DIAN names, using a printed Formulario 490.
- You can top up a Nequi wallet in cash at corresponsales and pay with it later. Nequi’s limits page (October 2026) sets a $10,000 COP minimum per top-up. The maximum is $1,000,000 COP at Nequi corresponsales (lower at some points) and $3,000,000 COP at Bancolombia corresponsales, depending on each point’s cash.
To compare PSE with Bre-B transfers, wallets, cards and cash, read our guide on how to pay in Colombia. If you are moving to Medellín or Bogotá and want a concierge on your side, contact Colombia Desk.