What is Bre-B and what changes for your digital payments in Colombia

Until recently, transferring between two Colombian banks after hours meant waiting until the next business day. Here we tell you what Bre-B is, how the interoperable QR and payment keys work, and what changes in practice for users and businesses.

Download the belo app and check how to pay with your Bre-B key according to your account and current conditions.

What is Bre-B and why it redefines payments

Until recently, transferring money between two Colombian banks during non-business hours meant waiting until the next working day.

That delay generated real friction for millions of people who needed to pay, collect, or send money outside of traditional banking hours.

Bre-B is the instant payment infrastructure designed by the Banco de la República to eliminate this lag. 

It functions as a centralized layer connecting banks, digital wallets, and financial institutions under the same standard, allowing transfers between any of these actors to be processed in seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The difference with previous systems is structural, because bre-B instant payments Colombia operates on a network where clearing and settlement occur in real time, without relying on batch processing windows.

The model follows the line of regional experiences that have already proven their impact. Brazil has Pix, Argentina has Transferencias 3.0, and now Colombia enters with Bre-B into a scheme where interoperability between institutions is no longer optional.

Any user with an account at a participating entity can send or receive funds to any other entity within the system, regardless of whether it is a large bank, a fintech, or a cooperative.

Interoperable QR and payment keys in Colombia

Within Bre-B, two mechanisms coexist that solve different situations and it is worth knowing each of them.

The two main channels of Bre-B

• The interoperable QR target in-person payments in stores. A restaurant in Bogotá generates a QR code from its financial institution, and the customer scans it from the app of any other bank or wallet participating in Bre-B, with the amount debited and credited in seconds regardless of who issued the code.

• Payment keys in Colombia solve the person-to-person scenario. Instead of asking for a 20-digit account number, the sender uses a simple identifier linked to the receiver's account, such as a cell phone number, an email, or an ID number, and the money arrives in seconds.

The keyword is "interoperable," which means that the business does not need to accept a specific app nor does the user need to have an account at the same bank as the business.

This dynamic is already working in Argentina, where a user can scan a QR code from any platform and pay without restrictions on who issued the code.

A concrete example clarifies the difference. Buying a coffee in a shop in Medellín with an interoperable QR involves an in-person flow where the store presents the code and the payer confirms from their app.

Sending $50,000 to a relative in Cali using their cell phone number as a payment key involves a person-to-person flow that does not require an in-person presence or a visual code.

Both use the same Bre-B infrastructure, but each channel addresses a different context.

Authorization, clearing, and settlement

Each time someone scans a QR or sends funds to a key, Bre-B executes three steps that occur almost simultaneously.

The three steps of the instant payment cycle

• Authorization verifies that the payer has sufficient funds and that the transaction complies with the system's rules. The payer's entity validates the amount, confirms availability, and sends the order to the central platform.

• Clearing calculates the net obligations between participating entities, determining how much each bank owes the others after processing all transactions for the period.

• Settlement actually transfers the funds between the accounts that the entities hold at the Banco de la República, closing the cycle.

What makes instant payments in Colombia different is that these three steps are compressed into seconds. In a traditional batch system, clearing could occur hours later and settlement the following day.

In Bre-B, the receiver sees the money in their account almost instantly, although the final interbank settlement is resolved in shorter windows than in the previous model.

For businesses, this changes reconciliation. A store that previously closed the day without knowing if certain payments had been credited can now verify in real time that each transaction arrived. 

Reversals also have a defined protocol within Bre-B: if a customer pays twice by mistake or the amount is incorrect, the payer's entity can initiate a return request that travels through the same channel, with limited response times established by the system to avoid prolonged disputes.

This reduces uncertainty for both the payer and the receiver.

What changes in practice with Bre-B

For users, the most direct consequence is no longer thinking about which bank the other person has. 

Sending money becomes as simple as sharing a cell phone number, and paying at a business is solved with a scan that works regardless of each party's entity.

For businesses, the advantage goes beyond speed. Interoperability means accepting payments from any banked customer without needing to hire multiple collection providers. 

A small shop in Barranquilla can receive payments from customers of any bank with a single QR, with immediate credit and full traceability of each operation. The digital wallet ecosystem is also transformed with Bre-B.

Platforms like belo, which already allow paying with interoperable QR in Argentina and other countries in the region using different currencies from a single app, are already integrated with Bre-B in Colombia: you can use your Bre-B key to pay in real time from the app with the currencies in your account.

To confirm which other wallets are already operating within the system, it is advisable to consult the official communications of the Banco de la República and the participating entities. What Bre-B brings to the table is an infrastructure that levels the playing field. 

When any entity can send and receive instant payments under the same rules, competition shifts to the user experience, additional features, and costs.

This change directly benefits both the payer and the receiver, because speed and interoperability stop being a differentiator and become the standard.

Download the belo app and check how to pay with your Bre-B key according to your account and current conditions.

Frequently asked questions about what is Bre-B and what changes for your digital payments in Colombia

Does Bre-B replace traditional bank transfers in Colombia?

Bre-B does not eliminate previous systems immediately, but rather adds an infrastructure layer that allows processing payments in real time 24 hours a day.

Over time, as more entities integrate, instant payments will become the natural channel for most daily transactions.

Does any Colombian bank already participate in Bre-B?

The onboarding of entities into the system occurs progressively. To find out which banks, wallets, and cooperatives are already active within Bre-B, the most reliable source is the official communications of the Banco de la República.

The Banco de la República publishes the list of authorized participants and updates it as new entities join the system.

Do payment keys in Colombia work the same as in other countries in the region?

The concept is equivalent to that of systems like Pix in Brazil, where a simple identifier such as a cell phone number or identity document replaces the account number.

The specific implementation may vary in the types of keys accepted and the amount limits that each entity establishes.

Does Bre-B have any cost for the end user?

The Banco de la República designed the system on the premise that interoperability should be accessible, but each participating entity defines its own rates for the user.

It is advisable to check the specific conditions of the wallet or bank you use to know the costs that apply in your case.

Does a small business need a special device to use the Bre-B interoperable QR?

The interoperable QR can be generated from the app or platform of the business's financial institution, without requiring additional hardware.

It is enough for the business's entity to be integrated into the system for the code to work with customers of any other participating bank or wallet.