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Bre-B Payouts Explained: How Businesses Pay Out via Bre-B with Stablecoins

Cross-Border Payments
Bre-B Payouts Explained: Funded by Stablecoins. Instant COP payouts from USDC. No crypto wallet. 1B+ Bre-B transactions, 108M Registered keys

Colombia now has an instant payment rail that works across banks and wallets. It is called Bre-B, and your recipients are already using it.

Bre-B payouts with stablecoin settlement let you pay into that rail from a USDC balance. You lock a quote, and pesos arrive in under 30 minutes.

La República reports that Bre-B passed 1 billion transactions, with 108 million keys and 35 million people registered. Volume has reached about 8 million payments a day.

This guide explains what Bre-B is, how it moves money, and how businesses fund Bre-B payouts with stablecoins through Yativo. It ends with dashboard steps and a full API example.

What Is Bre-B?

Bre-B is Colombia’s instant payment system, built and run by the Banco de la República. It moves money in seconds, at any hour, between banks and wallets.

People register a key, such as a phone number, ID number or email, linked to their account. A sender only needs that key to pay.

How Bre-B Works

Bre-B works on keys rather than account numbers. A few mechanics matter for payouts.

  • Keys. A key points to one account, so the recipient picks where funds land.
  • Interoperability. Banks and wallets connect to the same system.
  • Always on. Payments run day and night, including weekends.
  • Name check. The sender sees the holder name before confirming.

Why Businesses Fund Bre-B Payouts with Stablecoins

Most businesses that pay over Bre-B from abroad face the same problem. The domestic rail is fast, but the cross-border leg in front of it is slow and expensive.

Correspondent banks add days. A SWIFT wire can pass through intermediaries before it reaches a bank that can send the Bre-B payment. Each hop can hold the money or take a fee.

Small payments lose the most. Sending small amounts across borders costs an average of 6.36% of the amount sent, according to the World Bank. Contractor and creator payouts feel that most.

Stablecoins remove the slow leg. With a stablecoin balance, value moves on-chain in minutes. A licensed local payout partner then sends the Bre-B payment from inside the country.

Foreign platforms paying Colombian freelancers once needed a local bank. A stablecoin balance plus Bre-B gives them the same instant reach.

How Bre-B Payouts with Stablecoin Settlement Work on Yativo

Yativo is payment infrastructure, not a bank. We use stablecoins as the settlement layer between your balance and the local rail.

  1. You fund your Yativo float balance with a fiat or stablecoin deposit, such as USDC.
  2. You request a quote that shows the rate, the fees and the exact COP amount.
  3. Yativo settles the payout value on-chain with a licensed local payout partner in Colombia.
  4. The partner sends a Bre-B payment in COP to the recipient’s Colombian account.
  5. Your recipient sees the credit like any other domestic Bre-B payment.

Your recipient does not need a crypto wallet. They never see or touch stablecoins. On their side, it is a normal Bre-B payment.

Read more in our overview of the on-ramp and off-ramp API for businesses.

Bre-B Gateways on Yativo

Yativo offers two Bre-B gateways and a bank transfer option. For a country-level guide, see Colombia Bre-B payouts.

Bre-B (gateway ID 1277)

Gateway 1277 pays Bre-B keys from 1,000 to 110,000,000 COP. Gateway 1278 is a second Bre-B route for 1 to 1,000,000 COP.

Required details: the fields returned by the form for gateway 1277. Expect the holder name, ID and Bre-B key.

Settlement time: Under 30 minutes.

Limits: 1,000 COP minimum and 110,000,000 COP maximum per payout in our catalog.

Bank Transfer

Bank Transfer 2 pays Colombian bank accounts directly, from 30 to 600,000,000 COP.

Settlement time: Under 30 minutes.

Bre-B vs Other Payout Rails

 Bre-BBank transferSWIFT wire
Settlement on YativoUnder 30 minutesUnder 30 minutesT+1
IdentifierKey (phone, ID, email)Bank and account numberSWIFT/BIC and account
Hours24/7Bank dependentBusiness days

How to Send a Bre-B Payout with Stablecoins via Yativo

Option 1: Dashboard (for manual payouts)

  1. Fund your Yativo float balance with either a fiat or a stablecoin deposit, such as USDC.
  2. Go to Transfer in your Yativo dashboard.
  3. Select the float wallet you are paying with, for example USD, EUR, MXN or whichever balance you funded.
  4. Choose the customer you are paying on behalf of. This step is necessary for fintechs that run payouts on behalf of their customers.
  5. Choose Colombia as the destination and Bre-B as the payout method.
  6. Enter the recipient details the payout form asks for, such as the holder name, ID and Bre-B key.
  7. Enter the amount in USD or COP.
  8. Review the quote: exchange rate, fees, delivery time and the exact COP amount your recipient receives.
  9. Confirm with your PIN and 2FA.
  10. Track the payout in real time and download the receipt for your records.

Option 2: API (for automated and bulk payouts)

Every endpoint below is in the Yativo API documentation. Production calls go to https://api.yativo.com/api/v1, and the sandbox runs at https://smtp.yativo.com/api/v1.

Authenticate every request with the X-Api-Key and X-Api-Secret headers. Each key only works from the server IPs listed on it, as covered in our October update. Every POST also needs a unique Idempotency-Key header.

Step 1. Generate a USDC deposit address on Solana to fund your balance:

POST https://api.yativo.com/api/v1/crypto/create-wallet
X-Api-Key: $YATIVO_API_KEY
X-Api-Secret: $YATIVO_API_SECRET
Idempotency-Key: dc057909-70ba-47a7-9097-39560be81570
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "currency": "USDC_SOL"
}

Step 2. List the payout methods available for Colombia:

curl "https://api.yativo.com/api/v1/payment-methods/payout?country=COL" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $YATIVO_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Api-Secret: $YATIVO_API_SECRET" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

Bre-B carries gateway ID 1277. Always read the ID from the live response instead of hardcoding it.

Step 3. Fetch the required fields for that gateway:

GET https://api.yativo.com/api/v1/beneficiary/form/show/1277
X-Api-Key: $YATIVO_API_KEY
X-Api-Secret: $YATIVO_API_SECRET

The response lists every required field and its accepted values. Build your payment_data object from it. For field details, see API documentation.

Step 4. Create the beneficiary. Replace the placeholder with the fields the form returned:

POST https://api.yativo.com/api/v1/beneficiaries/payment-methods/
X-Api-Key: $YATIVO_API_KEY
X-Api-Secret: $YATIVO_API_SECRET
Idempotency-Key: 5e982e38-b0a9-4167-8df2-42120536fcac
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "gateway_id": 1277,
  "nickname": "Valentina Ríos",
  "currency": "COP",
  "customer_id": "e8caa491-57b6-4c39-9e3a-d2c97e47fbf0",
  "payment_data": {
    "{field_from_form}": "{value}"
  }
}

Step 5. Lock your rate. Quotes hold for 5 minutes:

POST https://api.yativo.com/api/v1/exchange-rate
X-Api-Key: $YATIVO_API_KEY
X-Api-Secret: $YATIVO_API_SECRET
Idempotency-Key: 43a9c950-1dfc-4369-b691-67ac073bc8ed
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "from_currency": "USD",
  "to_currency": "COP",
  "method_id": 1277,
  "method_type": "payout",
  "amount": 500
}

Step 6. Initiate the payout from your balance:

POST https://api.yativo.com/api/v1/wallet/payout
X-Api-Key: $YATIVO_API_KEY
X-Api-Secret: $YATIVO_API_SECRET
Idempotency-Key: 935d018e-8562-422e-91a3-8aa725b956e1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "debit_wallet": "USD",
  "amount": 500,
  "payment_method_id": 8613,
  "customer_id": "e8caa491-57b6-4c39-9e3a-d2c97e47fbf0",
  "quote_id": "4a72ecf8-6c8a-4e38-9971-8aabe9f785ed"
}

Use the id from the beneficiary response as payment_method_id. For bulk runs, repeat the call per beneficiary, as described on our payouts page.

Best Practices for Bre-B Payouts

Ask for the key, not the account. It is shorter and the recipient controls where it points.

Match the ID. The holder ID must match the key owner to avoid rejections.

Compare with a full COP guide. See how to convert USDC to COP for rates and limits.

Lock the rate on large payouts. Quotes hold for 5 minutes, so request one right before you approve a big payment.

Use idempotency keys everywhere. A unique Idempotency-Key on every POST stops a retry from sending the same payout twice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Bre-B payout?

A Bre-B payout is an instant peso transfer over Colombia’s Bre-B system, sent to the recipient’s registered key.

Does my recipient need a crypto wallet to receive a Bre-B payout?

No. Your recipient gets COP in their normal Colombian account over Bre-B. They never touch stablecoins.

Is it compliant to fund Bre-B payouts with stablecoins?

Yes, when the payout runs through regulated infrastructure. Yativo is registered with FinCEN as a Money Services Business, registration number 31000270723339. A licensed local payout partner sends the Bre-B payment. Your own tax and reporting duties still apply.

How long does a Bre-B payout take with Yativo?

Bre-B payouts via Yativo settle in under 30 minutes, at any hour.

Which stablecoins can fund Bre-B payouts?

You can fund your float balance with USDC, or with fiat. EURC deposits credit your EUR balance, while USDC deposits credit your USD balance. The quote shows the conversion before you confirm.

What is a Bre-B key?

It is an identifier, such as a phone number, ID number or email, that the recipient links to their account.

Start Sending Bre-B Payouts with Yativo

Bre-B passed 1 billion transactions in its first year. Yativo lets you fund Bre-B payouts with USDC through a licensed local payout partner, settled in under 30 minutes. Book a demo to set up your first Bre-B payout, or contact sales if you already know your monthly volume.

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