Population
54M
Online Population
39M
Currency
COP
Population - 54M In late 2025, 83% of Colombia’s population lived in urban centres, whereas 17% lived in rural areas
Internet penetration - 77,8% There were 41.7 million internet users in Colombia in late 2025.
Colombia enters 2026 with one of Latin America’s most developed fintech ecosystems.
Digital lending remains the largest fintech vertical, with platforms using alternative data and digital onboarding to expand access to credit for consumers and SMEs. It’s accounting for 39.4% of the ecosystem and is followed by digital payments at 33.0%, while crypto and blockchain companies represent 8.2%.
A major catalyst is Bre-B, Colombia’s interoperable instant-payment infrastructure, which became fully operational in October 2025. Adoption has been remarkably fast: by April 2026, Bre-B had surpassed 34 million registered users, while instant-transfer volumes in 2025 grew 152% year-on-year.
Colombia’s fintech growth is also being driven by the widespread use of mobile wallets such as Nequi and Daviplata, which have brought digital financial services to millions of consumers.
At the same time, the country is gradually developing an Open Finance framework, building on earlier Open Banking initiatives to enable consent-based sharing of financial data between banks, fintechs and other providers. Together, these trends are moving Colombia from basic financial digitization toward a more integrated ecosystem of payments, credit and data-driven financial services.
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Bre-B changes how Colombians move money
Launched nationwide in October 2025 by Banco de la República, the interoperable instant-payment system allows users to send and receive money 24/7 in seconds between participating banks and digital wallets using simple identifiers known as llaves — such as a phone number, ID number or email. By connecting previously fragmented payment ecosystems, Bre-B creates a common infrastructure on which fintechs can build new payment experiences. Its rollout marks an important step toward a more interoperable, competitive and digitally connected Colombian financial system.
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Colombia’s banking sector remains relatively concentrated around a handful of large institutions. Bancolombia, Banco de Bogotá, Davivienda and BBVA Colombia are the key traditional players, alongside Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular, Banco Caja Social and others.