Most places in Colombia do not take foreign cash. A handful of tourist spots will accept US dollars at poor rates, but for daily life you want Colombian pesos, and the easiest way to get them is from an ATM. Cards are widely accepted in cities, but plenty of smaller and more traditional businesses still run on cash or app transfers, so carrying some pesos is never a bad idea.
A quick personal lesson on that point: while traveling through South America I once landed in a small, touristy village whose only ATM would not take international cards. I ended up taking an informal taxi half an hour to the next town just to withdraw cash. Plan ahead.
This guide covers what you actually need to know about money in Colombia as a foreigner: opening a bank account, moving money internationally, using cards and ATMs without bleeding fees, building local credit, and the fast-moving world of Colombian fintech, including Bre-B, the instant-payment system that has changed how the whole country moves money.
Banks in Colombia
Opening a Bank Account
Foreigners living or doing business in Colombia can open a local account, and it is worth doing: it lets you pay utilities and services in pesos, receive a local salary, and avoid the fees and bad rates that come with relying on a foreign card for everything.
Requirements vary a lot by bank, branch, and even the specific clerk you happen to get. In general you should be ready to show:
Proof of identity. A valid passport, a visa showing legal residency (and work rights if relevant), and your cédula de extranjería, the national ID card for foreign residents.
Proof of address. A lease or a recent utility bill.
Proof of income or funds. Some banks ask for a minimum deposit or want to see where your money comes from if it is not a regular paycheck.
In practice it can be much simpler than that list suggests. I opened a Bancolombia account at the CC Oviedo branch in El Poblado back in 2019 with just my passport and a screenshot of my home bank balance. Other people get asked for the full stack of documents. Bring everything, hope you need little.
A few things to know going in. Remote account opening is not possible; you have to show up in person at a branch. Bring someone who speaks Spanish, or a translator, if yours is shaky. And ask up front about transfer restrictions, since some banks impose a waiting period (often around six months) before they will let you move money between your overseas and Colombian accounts.
The Main Banks
Colombia’s central bank is the Banco de la República, which is state-run and does not serve retail customers. For everyday banking, the big domestic names are Bancolombia, Banco de Bogotá, Davivienda, and Banco de Occidente. International banks with a local presence include BBVA Colombia, Scotiabank Colombia (Colpatria), Citi, and Banco GNB Sudameris.
Bancolombia is the one to understand. It is by far the most widely used bank in the country, nearly every business has a Bancolombia account, and a large share of QR-code payments run through its app. If you bank with anyone, Bancolombia removes the most friction.
Before you travel, check whether your home bank has a partner network in Colombia that waives ATM fees, and always compare the all-in exchange rate rather than just the headline fee.
Sending Money Internationally
If you need to move money into Colombia, you have a lot of options, and the right one depends on amount, speed, and how you want to receive it. The major players are Wise, Revolut, Western Union, MoneyGram, Remitly, XE, WorldRemit, Xoom (PayPal), Ria, and Paysend.
As a rough guide: Wise and Revolut tend to give the best all-in rates for bank-to-bank transfers; Western Union and MoneyGram are the go-to for cash pickup and speed; the rest sit somewhere in between. Fees range from a flat dollar or two up to a percentage of the transfer, and delivery times range from minutes (Western Union, XE, Xoom) to a few business days (Wise, WorldRemit, Ria, Paysend). Maximum amounts vary widely by provider and your country of residence, so check before sending a large sum.
A concrete example of what “best rate” really costs in practice: on April 1, 2024, I sent 1,000 EUR via Revolut to my Bancolombia account. I paid an 18 EUR fee and received 4,080,006 COP, about 82,000 COP short of the official mid-market rate that day. All in, the transfer cost me roughly 38 EUR. Those specific figures are a snapshot, fees and rates shift daily, but the lesson holds: even the “cheap” services take a cut somewhere, so compare the amount that actually lands, not the advertised fee.
For large sums tied to buying real estate or making a formal investment, many foreigners use a brokerage account (Alianza and Acciones y Valores are common choices) that accepts wire transfers. Important: any money brought in for investment or property purchase must be properly registered with the Banco de la República, or you will have problems repatriating it later.
Cards and ATMs
ATMs are the simplest way to get pesos, and they are everywhere, in malls, banks, and on the street, usually with an English-language option. Skip the street ones where you can; withdrawing inside a mall or a bank branch is safer. Take out only what you plan to spend and store the rest securely.
A few things to know to avoid losing money:
Decline Dynamic Currency Conversion. When an ATM or card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency instead of pesos, say no, always choose Colombian pesos. Accepting the home-currency option lets the machine set its own inflated exchange rate.
Expect layered fees. You may face an ATM operator fee, your own bank’s international withdrawal fee, and a currency-conversion fee, in any combination. Withdrawing with a Wise or Revolut card from Aval or Davivienda machines, for example, I typically pay over 20,000 COP in fees. Some networks charge less than others, so it pays to experiment.
Look for fee-friendly cards. US travelers in particular favor Charles Schwab’s checking account, which reimburses all ATM fees worldwide. Cards with no foreign-transaction fee make a real difference over a long stay.
Mind the withdrawal caps. Colombian ATMs limit how much you can take per transaction, and the limits vary by network: Bancolombia is often around 1,500,000 COP, Davivienda around 400,000, Servibanca around 1,000,000. Your own card’s daily limit applies on top of that.
When paying by card at a bar or restaurant, you will be asked crédito or débito. On a credit card you may then be asked ¿en cuántas cuotas? (how many installments); answer una, por favor unless you actually want to split the charge across up to 24 months. On a debit card you will be asked whether it is linked to a corriente (checking) or ahorros (savings) account.
Two more practical notes. Tell your home bank you are traveling before you arrive, or your card may simply stop working, or get blocked for “suspicious activity,” which happened to me once for the crime of withdrawing cash in Medellín. And if you bring physical cash to exchange, make sure the bills are pristine; torn or marked notes are routinely refused. Traveler’s checks, finally, are not worth the trouble anymore: poor rates, manual verification, and limited acceptance.
Building Credit
Your credit history from home does not transfer. In Colombia, credit is tracked by DataCrédito (part of Experian Colombia), and foreigners with a valid visa and cédula de extranjería can enroll. Visit a DataCrédito office with your cédula to register; you can then check your report online, free for the first month. Offices are in the major cities, including Medellín, Bogotá, Cali, and Barranquilla.
To build a local score, use and pay on time: a postpaid phone or internet plan, a store card, or a bank credit card. It takes time, and credit cards and especially mortgages are hard for foreigners to get. To be considered for a mortgage you generally need residency with a cédula, ideally a few years of living here, a local bank account, a local credit history, and often proof that you file Colombian taxes. For perspective, even Colombians find mortgages difficult; the market is small, with only a small fraction of adults holding one.
Fintech, Bre-B, and Digital Wallets
Colombia is one of Latin America’s biggest fintech hubs, behind Brazil and Mexico, with hundreds of companies in the space. High smartphone use, the government’s push on Open Finance, and recent licensing changes that let players like Nu (Nubank) and Rappi expand have made the sector genuinely competitive. The single biggest development, though, is Bre-B.
Bre-B: Colombia’s Instant Payments System
Bre-B is Colombia’s interoperable instant-payment system, built by the central bank and launched into full operation on October 6, 2025. Think of it as Colombia’s answer to Brazil’s Pix. It lets you send money in real time between accounts at any participating bank or wallet, 24/7, at little or no cost, regardless of which institution each person uses, which is the key change: previously, instant transfers mostly worked only within the same bank.
It works through “llaves” (keys), a simple alias, usually your phone number, email, or cédula, that someone uses to send you money without needing your full account details. You register your key inside your bank or wallet app.
Adoption has been fast. Within months of launch, Bre-B had tens of millions of registered users, well over a hundred million registered keys, and hundreds of millions of transactions, with more than 170 participating institutions. For a foreigner living here, the practical upshot is simple: set up a Bre-B key in your Colombian bank or wallet app, because it has quickly become the default way people and small businesses move money.
Digital Wallets
Nequi, spun out of Bancolombia, is one of the most popular mobile wallets in the country, used by many millions. It handles free transfers, bill payments, automatic savings, and a physical card, and is widely accepted, including by street vendors. Note that you now need a cédula to register and unlock full functionality; the days of a phone-number-only signup are gone as KYC rules have tightened.
DaviPlata, from Davivienda, is the other big wallet, with a similarly large user base. It covers transfers, bill payments, mobile top-ups, and more.
Apple Pay and Google Pay both work in Colombia but are not yet widely used. Apple Pay is supported by a handful of banks including Bancolombia, Davivienda, and Nu Colombia. Google Pay acceptance is patchier still. Useful as a backup, not something to rely on.
Crypto
Crypto has a small footprint here. There are a few Bitcoin ATMs around Medellín (Athena machines have operated in spots like a Monterrey-area mall) where you can buy or sell for cash, and the occasional café in Provenza accepts crypto payments and runs a buy-Bitcoin-with-pesos machine. These places accept the usual coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others) but remain uncommon, and locations change, so do not count on crypto for everyday spending.
A final, practical reminder that ties all of this together: the apps are excellent until they are not. I use Bancolombia’s QR payments and Nequi constantly and they are genuinely convenient, but apps crash, networks go down, and a dead phone leaves you stranded. Always keep a little cash on you.
