Sending money from Spain to Colombia: the payments stack
Sending EUR 140 from Spain to Colombia cost 5.48% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 22 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in Colombia typically run over Bre-B (instant payments), ACH Colombia; between now and the end of 2027 there are 1 weekdays when banks in Spain are closed but Colombia keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 5.48% of EUR 140 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 4.47% across 21 services |
| Banks | 26.74% across 1 services |
| Collect in Spain | SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst), TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement), T2 (RTGS and CLM), SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT), CENTROlink |
| Pay out in Colombia | Bre-B (instant payments), ACH Colombia, CUD (Sistema de Cuentas de Deposito) |
What it costs to send EUR 140
The World Bank surveyed 22 services sending from Spain to Colombia from 2 August 2025 to 9 September 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 5.48% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 4.47% and banks 26.74%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: Spain
- PSD2 sets initial capital for payment institutions at 20,000 euros for money remittance only, 50,000 euros for payment initiation and 125,000 euros for the services in points 1 to 5 of Annex I (Article 7). source
- An e-money institution must hold initial capital of at least 350,000 euros at authorisation (EMD2, Article 4). source
- A payment institution that wants to provide services in another Member State for the first time notifies its home competent authority of the Member States, the services and any agents or branches it will use (PSD2, Article 28); agents are entered in the home register before they start (Article 19). source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from the Eurozone.
The payout side: Colombia
| Payout partner | What it does in Colombia | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thunes · our guide | Launched real-time cross-border payments to and from Colombia through Bre-B in October 2025, as part of its Direct Global Network. | source |
| Nium · our guide | Pays COP to bank accounts at all banks in Colombia over ACH, with same-day credit subject to an 18:00 UTC cut-off, and instantly to Bre-B proxies. | source |
| dLocal · our guide | Supports payouts in Colombia in COP via bank transfers. | source |
| EBANX | Pays out in Colombia to Nequi and by Bre-B (published SLA under 2 minutes each) and by bank transfer (up to 3 days), as cross-border operations. | source |
| TerraPay with Bancolombia | Signed a contract with Bancolombia (announced in 2023) for cross-border transfers into Colombia; the announcement describes Bancolombia as the largest payer of remittances in Colombia, paying US$5,692 million of the US$9,429 million that arrived in 2022. | source |
| Cobre | Colombian business payments platform that sends dispersals to any bank account or digital wallet in Colombia through Fast Pay (credit in 6 minutes or less in business hours) and Bre-B (24/7, 365 days a year). | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Colombia: launching payments in Colombia.
Payout rails in Colombia
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bre-B (instant payments) | Banco de la Republica | Settlement mechanism launched on 23 September 2025 and running 24/7; controlled operation from 23 September to 5 October 2025 and full operation from 6 October 2025, interoperating five instant payment systems and 227 financial institutions at launch. Payments are capped at 1,000 UVB per transaction. | source |
| ACH Colombia | ACH Colombia S.A. | Interbank transfer network launched in 1997 with Colombian financial institutions; ACH Colombia also runs PSE, which debits savings, current or electronic deposit accounts for online purchases and payments. | source |
| CUD (Sistema de Cuentas de Deposito) | Banco de la Republica | High-value system of accounts at the central bank; funds transfers can be made between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Bogota time. | source |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 1 dates when Spain is closed and Colombia is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 19 dates when Colombia is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | Spain | Colombia | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2 Nov 2026 | Open | All Saints' Day (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 16 Nov 2026 | Open | Independence of Cartagena (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 8 Dec 2026 | Open | Immaculate Conception | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Christmas Day | Both closed |
| Thu 31 Dec 2026 | Open | New Year's Eve (no ACH cycles) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | New Year's Day | Both closed |
| Mon 11 Jan 2027 | Open | Epiphany (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 22 Mar 2027 | Open | Saint Joseph's Day (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 25 Mar 2027 | Open | Holy Thursday | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Good Friday | Good Friday | Both closed |
| Mon 29 Mar 2027 | Easter Monday | Open | Prefund Colombia the day before: no funding from Spain, payouts continue |
| Mon 10 May 2027 | Open | Ascension Day (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 31 May 2027 | Open | Corpus Christi (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 7 Jun 2027 | Open | Sacred Heart (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 5 Jul 2027 | Open | Saints Peter and Paul (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 12 Jul 2027 | Open | Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquira (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 20 Jul 2027 | Open | Independence Day | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 16 Aug 2027 | Open | Assumption of Mary (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 18 Oct 2027 | Open | Dia de la Raza (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 1 Nov 2027 | Open | All Saints' Day | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 15 Nov 2027 | Open | Independence of Cartagena (moved to Monday) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 8 Dec 2027 | Open | Immaculate Conception | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 31 Dec 2027 | Open | New Year's Eve (no ACH cycles) | Colombia banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
Full calendars: Euro area (TARGET2/T2 and SEPA) and Colombia. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- At the Bundesbank, T2 RTGS accepts customer payments from 02:30 to 17:00 and bank-to-bank payments from 02:30 to 18:00 on business days, so non-instant euro funding must be sent within those windows. source
- T2 has a non-optional maintenance window every week from 02:30 Saturday to 02:30 Monday, extended over TARGET closing days (for example from Good Friday to the Tuesday after Easter); when the optional weekday window (03:00 to 05:00) is activated, settlement of liquidity transfers in TIPS is affected while TIPS keeps processing instant payments. source
- On Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and days when Banco de la Republica does not provide CUD services, the TRM in force is the one for the next business day, and the TRM is not calculated from trades made on US Federal Reserve bank holidays. source
- Bancolombia negotiates USD rates for company international transfers Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., not on Colombian or US holidays, and same-day settlement needs the request and supporting documents before 4:00 p.m. source
- Under Ley 51 de 1983 (Ley Emiliani) many Colombian holidays that do not fall on a Monday move to the following Monday, creating frequent three-day weekends. source
Running the corridor
Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in Spain, the payout partners and banks in Colombia and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Colombia balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from Spain to Colombia?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending EUR 140 at 5.48% in Q3 2025, across 22 services. Money transfer operators averaged 4.47%.
Which rails pay out in Colombia?
Local payouts run over Bre-B (instant payments), ACH Colombia, CUD (Sistema de Cuentas de Deposito).
When do I need to prefund Colombia payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 1 weekdays when Spain is closed and Colombia is open, the first on Mon 29 Mar 2027. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- T2 (opening hours and closing days) · European Central Bank
- TARGET Systems operating schedule, euro · European Central Bank
- Ley 51 de 1983 (Ley Emiliani), compiled text · Colpensiones normograma (official compilation)
- Tarifas y horario de operacion del Sistema de Cuentas de Deposito (CUD) · Banco de la Republica
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.