Payment methods in Colombia
Colombia is one of Latin America’s fastest-growing e-commerce markets, with a 13% annual growth rate and a digitally active population of over 41 million. Cards are the leading payment method, accounting for 36% of online transactions — but the cards Colombian consumers hold are largely locally issued Visa and Mastercard, backed by Colombian banks and tied to local-currency accounts.
Decline rates for these cards are significantly higher when processed through an international acquirer. For merchants entering Colombia, local card acquiring is the single most important factor in improving authorisation rates and reducing lost revenue at checkout. PPRO provides access to local acquiring infrastructure in Colombia, processing all major card brands on local payment rails.
E-commerce payment method breakdown
- Card 36%
- Bank transfer 29%
- E-Wallet 26%
- Cash 8%
- BNPL 1%
[{"label":"Card","value":"36"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"29"},{"label":"E-Wallet","value":"26"},{"label":"Cash","value":"8"},{"label":"BNPL","value":"1"}]
Card Scheme Breakdown
Popular payment methods in Colombia
PPRO supports the following local payment methods in Colombia:
Local Card Acquiring — The Key to Conversion in Colombia
Colombia’s card market is dominated by Visa and Mastercard — but almost all of the cards in circulation are locally issued by Colombian banks. They carry familiar logos, but they are tied to Colombian peso accounts and subject to local issuing rules that make them behave differently to their international counterparts at the point of authorisation.
When these cards are processed through an international acquirer, decline rates are noticeably higher. The fix is straightforward: local acquiring. PPRO processes Visa, Mastercard, and Discover on local Colombian payment rails, giving merchants access to the same infrastructure used by domestic acquirers — and the authorisation rates that come with it.
Key reasons to use local acquiring in Colombia:
- Processes all major card brands on local Colombian payment rails
- Meaningfully lower decline rates versus international acquiring
- Supports both local and international settlement options
- Covers Visa, Mastercard, and Discover
- Access to a consumer base of over 41 million online shoppers
Why Local Payments Matter in Colombia
Colombia’s high banked population — 92% — means cards are genuinely central to how consumers pay online. But banked does not mean internationally accessible. The Visa and Mastercard cards held by Colombian consumers are overwhelmingly locally issued, and decline rates for these cards are higher without a local acquirer. For merchants routing Colombian card transactions through international infrastructure, a meaningful share of authorisations will fail that would otherwise succeed.
Beyond cards, bank transfers account for 28% of e-commerce payments and digital wallets for 26% — both growing categories that reflect Colombia’s expanding digital financial ecosystem. A complete Colombia payments strategy starts with local card acquiring, and builds outward from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cards are the leading payment method in Colombia at 36% of e-commerce transactions, followed by bank transfers at 28% and digital wallets at 26%. Mastercard and Visa dominate the card market, though the vast majority of cards in circulation are locally issued. Cash accounts for 8% of transactions. For merchants entering Colombia, local card acquiring is the highest-impact action for improving payment performance.
Most Visa and Mastercard cards in Colombia are issued by local Colombian banks, tied to peso accounts and subject to domestic issuing rules. Decline rates for these cards are higher when processed through international acquirers. PPRO processes Colombian card transactions on local payment rails — the same infrastructure used by domestic acquirers — delivering meaningfully better authorisation rates for merchants.
Local acquiring means processing card transactions through an acquirer with direct connections to Colombia’s domestic payment infrastructure. For locally issued cards — which make up the majority of cards in Colombia — this results in higher authorisation rates than international acquiring. PPRO offers local acquiring in Colombia for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, with both local and international settlement options depending on where your business is based.
Yes. PPRO supports Discover as a local card in Colombia (as well as across other Latin American markets including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Peru). Discover operates on local payment rails in Colombia and requires a specialist Latin American acquirer to process. PPRO provides this through its single API integration, without the need for a separate Discover-specific integration.
PPRO provides a single API integration for local card acquiring in Colombia, covering Visa, Mastercard, and Discover on local payment rails. PPRO also acts as Merchant of Record in Colombia, handling local compliance and regulatory requirements — including Colombia’s complex tax framework. Download the Colombia country report for a full breakdown of the market.
Go Deeper: Download the Colombia Payments Report
Get the complete picture on Colombia’s e-commerce payment landscape. Our country report covers market sizing, consumer payment preferences, cross-border dynamics, and the payment mix you need to convert Colombian shoppers. Download the report to build a payments strategy that works in Colombia.