Colombia’s Bre-B instant-payment system completed its first 12 months with more than 1.7 billion transactions worth over COP262 trillion. Banco de la República said more than 36 million users held at least one registered payment key. The system had passed 116 million registered keys by October. Participation reached 245 connected entities, up from about 25 entities in earlier immediate-payment schemes.
The anniversary measured Bre-B’s first completed year rather than an end to the service. Bre-B remains Colombia’s operating interoperable payment infrastructure and is available through participating financial institutions rather than a standalone consumer application. Its payment keys let users receive transfers without sharing account numbers. The central bank said the results opened a new phase focused on deeper interoperability, operational resilience and additional uses.
ADOPTION SPREAD ACROSS DAILY PAYMENTS
The central bank said 45 million registered keys had received at least one payment. It also reported that 62% of transactions were worth less than COP50,000, indicating substantial use for routine transfers and small-commerce payments. Valora Analitik and La FM separately corroborated the transaction, value, user and key totals.
Institutional reach widened alongside transaction use. Banco de la República counted more than 172 cooperatives and six payment systems among the 245 connected entities. Valora Analitik reported that the network also comprised 27 banks, 19 employee funds, eight finance companies, six specialised electronic deposit and payment companies and 13 other entities.
BANKS REPORTED BROAD CUSTOMER TAKE-UP
La República’s survey of institutions that supplied adoption data placed Davivienda, Bancolombia and Banco de Bogotá at the top of that reporting group by registered keys. The newspaper reported 11 million customers with keys at Davivienda, nine million keys at Bancolombia and six million at Banco de Bogotá. Those figures describe only the institutions that provided data and are not a complete market ranking.
Banco de la República has published for comment a regulatory proposal to enable additional uses and value-added services, including a route for business payments. The proposal is not a completed rule, and Bre-B continues to operate under its current framework while consultation proceeds. The first-year anniversary is therefore a completed measurement milestone for an ongoing platform, with the next test being whether wider business use can deepen adoption without weakening resilience.