Colombia’s New Instant Payment System, Bre-B

Colombia has launched its new instant payment system, Bre-B, which closely mirrors Brazil’s highly successful Pix and was developed in part by EBANX, a Latin American payments firm.

The early indicators are encouraging: over 30 million people have already signed up for Bre-B, accounting for 76% of Colombia’s adult population. Additionally, the system enjoys strong federal support.

A Favorable Economic Landscape

Colombia’s digital economy has been expanding at double-digit rates since 2019 and is forecasted to reach $52 billion this year, making it the third-largest market in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. More broadly, Latin America is open to digital payments: according to Beyond Borders, seven out of ten adults make or receive payments through digital channels.

An additional factor that could contribute to Bre-B’s success is Colombia’s low credit card penetration rate. Only 18% of adults have access to credit cards, giving the system a distinct advantage similar to Pix in Brazil. Pix saw an increase from 68% adult penetration in 2020 to 90% by 2023. By comparison, credit cards account for around 40% of Brazil’s payments market.

Compare and Contrast with Pix

Many features of Bre-B were inspired by the rollout of Pix, including user identification via simple keys such as phone numbers and emails. Bre-B has already issued over 80 million payment keys. Other similar features include QR code payments, mandatory interoperability for instant transfers, and time-based transaction limits to prevent fraud.

However, there are notable differences as well. Brazil built a single rail between financial institutions to make Pix interoperable, whereas Colombia developed a new ecosystem on top of its existing payments infrastructure. This approach allowed Bre-B to connect established account transfer services while also providing flexibility for future integrations.

Currently, Bre-B supports only peer-to-peer transfers and consumer-to-business payments. The next steps include onboarding government entities like Cajas de Compensación Familiar, enabling citizens to pay taxes and receive disbursements through Bre-B. Future plans encompass recurring payments for subscription-based services and batch transfers for payroll and high-volume payments.