Best Payment Methods in Colombia: optimize your payment strategy in 2025

Online sales in Colombia during the first quarter of 2025 reached a total value of $27.3 billion Colombian pesos, 16.4 % more than in the same period of the previous year, according to the Quarterly E-Commerce Behavior Report of the Colombian Chamber of E-Commerce (CCCE).

For total sales, 131.6 million transactions were recorded between January and March 2025, which is 15.6 % more than the first quarter of 2024. The average online consumer purchase value was $207,000 pesos (an increase of 1.3 %, compared to the last quarter of 2024. 

This growth reflects not only increased consumer adoption of the digital channel, but also increased competition among e-commerce companies to attract and retain these shoppers.

In this context, offering the most widely used payment methods in the country is no longer optional, but a key condition to compete. If your business does not allow users to pay the way they want -whether by card, transfer, cash on delivery or digital wallets- you are losing sales. Here we tell you more.

What are the main payment methods in Colombia?

In Colombia there are different types of payment methods that can be grouped into online and offline. Below we detail each one of them:

Online payment methods

Bank transfers

Most people have bank accounts, both savings and checking accounts, and at least 15% of the population have wire transfers as one of their preferred payment methods. They also occupy 55% of the payment options in Colombia.

Payments with digital wallets or e-wallets

In the era of mobile devices, 69% of the population opts for digital payment methods such as e-wallets. The Financial Superintendence of Colombia reported that real-time transfers through digital wallets, during the second half of 2024, grew 231%, compared to the same period of the previous year. 

Among the main payment options with digital wallets or e-wallets we have:

• NequiNequi: this Bancolombia application allows payments, transfers and withdrawals at no cost.
• Daviplata: Daviplata is a Davivienda platform that offers transfer services, ATM withdrawals and utility payments. 
• Movii: the user can make payments, recharges and transfers through this digital wallet.
• Dale! debit card: Dale! Visa allows you to pay with Apple Pay, with no handling fee.
• Mercado Pago: can be linked to your direct account in Mercado Libre. It offers the options of bank transfers, cards, cash and recharges.
• Ualá: with the Mastercard International debit card you can make purchases in Colombia and around the world. Deposits are handled through an app.
• Lulo Bank: you can make purchases electronically or in physical stores, both in Colombia and around the world, withdrawals at ATMs of the Servibanca Green Network and payments and purchases through secure online payments (PSE).
• Tuya Pay: with the digital account you can send, pay and manage money from your cell phone or make cash recharges.
• Apple Pay: has established partnerships with several financial institutions for its use.
• Google Pay: is in an initial phase, but seeks to satisfy the need of users who are looking for greater convenience and a secure way to pay.
• Contactless: Colombia recorded that 37% of the population with a bank account preferred contactless digital payments by the end of 2024. This means of payment has increased by 85% compared to last year, thanks to the use of technologies such as NFC and QR codes.
• Cryptocurrencies: Colombia is the fifth country in the world that has adopted cryptocurrencies and approximately 10% of the population made transactions by 2024. One of them is Tether (USDT), which is commonly used in P2P platforms and cross-border payments, in networks such as Tron or Ethereum (USDT-TRC20).

Secure Online Payment or PSE

It is a centralized and standardized system that allows users to make online payments by accessing their funds from the financial institution where they have them. With Secure Online Payments a debit is made to the bank account through this system. 

In the first quarter of 2025, it was the most used method with 63.1% share, given the levels of trust in this platform to directly connect bank accounts with e-commerce.

Offline payment methods

There are different offline payment methods that Colombians choose when it comes to their shopping experience. These are:

Point-of-sale (POS) terminals and card payments (debit/credit)

The Financial Superintendency of Colombia reported in December 2024 that dataphones or POS represented 7% of financial transactions in the country and were the most used channel for payments, with 42.88% of transactions.

Debit and credit cards

A study by Fiserv.com indicated that 64% of Colombians use debit cards as a means of payment and 37% opt for credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Both credit and debit cards are second only to the option of secure online payments, especially for higher-value purchases where credit card financing is attractive to consumers.

It is worth noting that although credit cards are still relevant in digital payments in Colombia, their use has lost ground to more agile options such as PSE and digital wallets. These methods, which do not require card data or involve debt, are gaining preference for their simplicity, security and high adoption, especially among young users.

Cash payments

According to Fiserv.com, around 96% of Colombians make most of their transactions or payments in cash, considering that it is a safe way to avoid exposing their personal data.

In Colombia there are solutions such as Efecty and Baloto that offer the possibility of starting a purchase online and finishing it at physical points by paying in cash.

This type of payment represents between 8% and 12% of total digital transactions, and is key to including the unbanked in e-commerce, especially in regions where access to digital media is still limited.

What you should know before choosing the best payment method for your company in Colombia

Payment methods vary in terms of security, popularity and adaptation to consumer and merchant preferences. Geographic context and business characteristics also influence choice. 

When determining the best payment method for your company, you should consider the following:

• Customer context: consider the customer' s age, digital habits, geographic location and the methods they value most when paying.
• It offers various payment methods: it caters to different customer profiles by combining traditional methods, such as cash and cards, and digital methods, such as mobile payment, wallets, e-wallets, payment links and buy now, pay later (BNPL).
• Transaction costs and commissions: consider how fixed and variable commissions will be applied in each method and notify users. 
• Prioritize security and fraud prevention: apply methods such as multi-factor authentication or tokenization, encryption and other alternatives that comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards or PCI-DSS. 
• Ensures a convenient shopping experience: the customer is looking for a fast, simple and hassle-free checkout process.
• Evaluate the compatibility of the payment method with your business model: depending on whether it is a physical store or e-commerce, you can opt for credit cards, debit cards, virtual cards, digital wallets, "buy now, pay later", direct debit, real-time payments, mobile payment, among others.
• Review settlement times: take into account the time it takes to receive funds so as not to negatively affect cash flow.
• Choose an international payment gateway that is easy to integrate: choose an infrastructure that offers clear sales reports, allows you to solve payment problems and helps you grow.

What is the best choice of payment method in Colombia?

Rebill is the best provider of digital payment services for global companies that want to expand into Colombia, without the need to open a local entity. In addition, it has a presence in the main Latin American markets.

With its payment and subscription infrastructure, you can collect money as a local and settle funds in USD and receive them in the country you are in.

Among its advantages it has:

• Integration in less than an hour: the connection through the robust API, SDK or its low-code integration allows you to accept multiple methods. In 5 lines of code you embed a complete checkout, with all payment methods.
• Flexible recurring payments: accepts different payment frequencies, either weekly, monthly or yearly. Allows upgrades, downgrades and subscription cancellations in real time. With the smart retries feature you can recover up to 71% of rejected payments.
• Automatic compliance: each transaction goes through a validation process to detect whether it complies with local data protection, security and authentication regulations.

Ready to take your business to Colombia?Contact us and transform your payment management today!