Payment Systems and Banking Operations

The new information system that will support the services of the Central Securities Depository (DCV), a financial market infrastructure essential for the custody, clearing, and settlement of transactions on public debt securities, the fiduciary management of Colombian securities, and the…

Each edition of the report has four objectives: 

1) to publicize a consolidated account of how the figures for payment infrastructures have evolved with respect to both financial assets and goods and services; 

2) to summarize the issues that are being debated…

The Central Bank of Colombia, Banco de la República, today announced it is partnering with ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), the global leader in mission-critical,…

This document reviews the potential macroeconomic effects of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the use of individuals and businesses. A careful selection of the architecture, and the economic and technological design aspects of this digital form of central bank money…

In the eighth program of 'Cuentas y Cuentos,' Prieto gives details of the new instant payment system, a project that will benefit Colombians in the medium term. 

Banco de la República's monitoring of the local financial market infrastructure is an additional contribution to the country's financial stability. One of the products of that monitoring has been the Payment Systems Report, which is now known as the Financial Infrastructure Report. The change in…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Colombia has seen a significant increase in the use of electronic payment channels. This blog presents detailed information on the evolution of these payment channels and their characteristics, identifying the main gaps observed in the country.

The installation of the Forum took place on 18 April 2023 at the Events Center of the Luis Ángel Arango Library, with the participation of the main actors of the retail-value payments ecosystem.

Ana María Prieto, Payment Systems Department Director of Banco de la República, pointed out the…

Retail payment instruments play a crucial role in economic and financial stability and in the functioning of trade. These include cash, debit and credit cards, checks, and wire transfers.

Speech by Leonardo Villar, Governor of Banco de la República

The development of this agenda includes the decision to promote an Instant Payments System (IPS), an analysis to expand the offer of cross-border payments, and, subsequently, the review of the advisability of issuing a digital currency.

The design of the Instant Payments System is carried…

Every two years, Banco de la República’s (the Central Bank of Colombia) Office for Industrial and Treasury Affairs, with the methodological consultancy of the Office for Economic Studies, applies the national survey on the provision of banknotes and coins and payment instruments (Epbmip in…

The concept of centrality has been widely used to monitor systems with a network structure because it allows identifying their most influential participants.This monitoring task can be difficult if the number of system participants is considerably large or if the wide variety of…

The monitoring of the local financial infrastructure is an additional contribution of Banco de la República (the Central Bank of Colombia) to the country’s financial stability. One of the outputs of this monitoring is the Payment Systems Report, which from this edition onwards changes its name…

The first step towards dematerializing securities in Colombia began when Law 27 was adopted in 1990, authorizing the creation of central securities depository management companies.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered the way merchants do business.  Preventive confinement, health restrictions and fear of contagion forced businesses to look for other ways of operating through home-based services, online commerce and the acceptance of different electronic payment…

To study the recent dynamics of electronic payments in Colombia, Banco de la República carried out in 2020 a survey of the commerce sector on acceptance and usage of different payment instruments. The survey reveals merchants´ high levels of acceptance of electronic payment instruments…