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How to Pay Contractors and Freelancers in Colombia with Stablecoins

Cross-Border Payments
How to Pay Contractors and Freelancers in Colombia with Stablecoins

If you want to pay contractors colombia reliably, you need a path that ends in local pesos, on local rails, on a predictable schedule. Colombia imported US$70.5 billion in goods in 2025, up 10%, according to DANE.

Colombia’s instant payment system, Bre-B, has already processed more than 1 billion transactions in its first year. Your payment needs to fit that rhythm.

This guide covers what Colombian contractors expect from a payment, where cross-border transfers usually break down, and how a stablecoin-funded payout flow addresses both. It also shows how Yativo settles in COP, so the recipient never needs a crypto wallet and simply sees a normal local credit.

Why Companies Work with Contractors and Freelancers in Colombia

Colombia is a large, connected market with heavy inbound money movement. The country received a record US$13.1 billion in remittances in 2025, per Migración Colombia and Banco de la República data. Businesses pay into the same accounts every day.

Crypto activity is also significant. Chainalysis puts Colombia’s crypto transaction volume at US$44.2 billion for July 2024 to June 2025.

What Contractors in Colombia Expect from a Payment

A payout in Colombia means pesos in the recipient’s own bank account.

Bank Transfer (COP)

Bank transfer works for payees without a key, or above the Bre-B limit, since each Bre-B payment is capped at COP 12,110,000 in 2026.

Colombian banks expect the holder’s name, ID type and ID number when someone sends an interbank transfer, as DAVIbank explains. Collect these at onboarding, not on payout day.

Bre-B

Bre-B is Colombia’s instant payment system. The rail itself moves money between banks in seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Banco de la República.

It works inside the apps of banks and other financial institutions, so it has no app of its own. Banco de la República allows five key types, including the ID document number: the cédula or other ID registered with the recipient’s bank.

Adoption is broad. The system has more than 110 million keys and about 250 participating institutions, up from about 40 at launch. It also handles almost 8 million payments a day, up from 2.5 million in November 2025.

Banco de la República warns that keys are only registered in each bank’s own app or website, and recipients never need to accept a transfer through a message.

For a deeper walkthrough of each rail, see our guides on Colombia bank transfer payouts and Colombia Bre-B payouts.

The Challenges When You Pay Contractors in Colombia from Abroad

Traditional transfers wait for cycles. Bancolombia, for example, credits transfers to other banks in five cycles on business days. The payment waits for the next cycle.

Inbound wires need action from your recipient. Bancolombia tells people receiving money from abroad to accept the transfer and its exchange rate within 30 days, unless they set up automatic credit. If they miss it, the transfer is not credited and your reconciliation is delayed.

The peso moves fast. The official rate (TRM) was COP 3,273.49 per dollar on October 3, 2026, down 12.87% since the start of the year. A quote can move with the TRM before the payment lands.

Small payments carry heavy overhead. Sending small amounts across borders costs an average of 6.36% of the amount sent, according to the World Bank. For small contractor payments, that is a real cost.

How to Pay Contractors in Colombia with Stablecoins on Yativo

Yativo uses stablecoins as a settlement layer, not as the payment your contractor receives. You fund a balance with USDC or fiat, lock a quote, and a licensed local payout partner sends COP to your contractor’s bank account. Settlement times are listed per rail, so you can plan a payment run.

This is the same model described in our guide to stablecoin payouts to Colombia.

  1. Fund your float balance. Top up with USDC or fiat, then keep a working balance sized to your monthly contractor run.
  2. Add the payee and confirm identifiers. Capture the holder’s name, ID type and ID number, plus a Bre-B key if they want instant settlement.
  3. Request and lock a quote. Confirm the COP amount and the rail before you commit the batch.
  4. Confirm the payout. A licensed local payout partner pays your contractor locally, and the credit lands as a normal peso deposit.

Active gateways for Colombia

Yativo currently supports these gateways for Colombian payouts. Bank Transfer and both Bre-B gateways settle in under 30 minutes. The SWIFT options settle on the next business day.

GatewayIDSettlement
Bank Transfer (COP)2Under 30 minutes
Bre-B1277Under 30 minutes
Bre-B (second gateway)1278Under 30 minutes
SWIFT (POBO)1133T+1 (next business day)
SWIFT (USD)564T+1 (next business day)

These are the active gateways in Yativo’s catalog today. Always read the live list from the payout-methods endpoint before you route a payment.

Any gateway with POBO in its name requires a POBO endorsement on your account.

Your recipient does not need a crypto wallet. They never see or touch stablecoins. On their side, the payment looks like a normal local transfer.

How to Send Stablecoin Payouts to Colombia with 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 Bank Transfer as the payout method.
  6. Enter the recipient details the payout form asks for, such as the holder name, ID type and number, bank and account number.
  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. These keys replaced bearer tokens, 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: 88943d0b-cd23-5bc2-99e6-ca08497331c6
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"

In this example, Bank Transfer carries gateway ID 2. 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/2
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: 0f952167-95e0-50dd-8061-4bf774877c98
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "gateway_id": 2,
  "nickname": "Medellin software studio",
  "currency": "COP",
  "customer_id": "e8caa491-57b6-4c39-9e3a-d2c97e47fbf0",
  "payment_data": {
    "{field_from_form}": "{value}"
  }
}

Step 5. Lock your COP 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: 80a57339-4a04-5859-a8ca-b35063ae3444
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "from_currency": "USD",
  "to_currency": "COP",
  "method_id": 2,
  "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: 57c5c4e5-b311-59d6-bb35-f21e1c9e43cd
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "debit_wallet": "USD",
  "amount": 500,
  "payment_method_id": 48326,
  "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.

Comparing Ways to Pay Contractors in Colombia

MethodSpeed to recipientRecipient effortFX visibilityBest fit
Yativo local payoutUnder 30 minutes on Bank Transfer and Bre-B; next business day on SWIFTLow: identifiers at onboarding, no wallet neededQuote locked before confirmationRecurring contractor runs in COP
International wireTypically days, subject to cutoffs and cyclesHigh: may need to accept the transfer and rateRate applied at acceptanceLarge one-off payments
Exchange withdrawalVaries by exchange and banking hoursMedium: recipient manages the withdrawalRate set by the exchangeContractors already holding crypto
Global payroll platformDepends on the platform’s local partnerMedium: onboarding through the platformSet by the platformMixed-country payroll

Best Practices for Paying Contractors in Colombia

Collect identifiers at onboarding. Get the holder’s name, ID type and ID number before the first payment, plus a Bre-B key if the contractor wants instant settlement. Chasing a cédula number on payout day delays everyone.

Agree on the payout currency in the contract. State whether the engagement is denominated in COP or in USD with COP settlement, so both sides know which currency the TRM applies to.

Batch on a fixed schedule. Run one payment cycle per week or per month, and keep a float balance that covers it.

Quote before confirming. Lock the rate for the batch, review the COP total, then confirm, especially when the peso is moving.

Keep reconciliation records. Store the quote, the rail used, the gateway reference and the local credit confirmation together so a payment can be matched to an invoice.

Stay under the per-payment limit. Each Bre-B payment tops out at COP 12,110,000 in 2026. Split larger invoices across rails or schedule multiple payments.

Classification and tax duties stay with you. Contractor classification and local tax obligations remain the company’s responsibility and its advisors’. Yativo moves money. It does not decide how a worker should be classified.

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast does a Bre-B payout reach a Colombian contractor?

The Bre-B rail moves money between banks in seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Banco de la República. Yativo’s Bre-B gateways settle in under 30 minutes. Each payment is capped at COP 12,110,000 in 2026, and the recipient’s bank can set a lower cap.

What identifiers do I need to pay a contractor in Colombia?

Colombian banks expect the holder’s name, ID type and ID number for an interbank transfer, as DAVIbank explains. For Bre-B, you can use a key such as the ID document number registered with the recipient’s bank. Collect all of this at onboarding.

When should I use Bank Transfer instead of Bre-B?

Use bank transfer for payees without a key, or above the Bre-B limit, since each Bre-B payment is capped at COP 12,110,000 in 2026. Yativo’s Bank Transfer gateway settles in under 30 minutes.

How widely used is Bre-B among Colombian recipients?

Since its launch in October 2025, the system has passed 1 billion transactions, with 108 million keys registered by 35 million people, La República reported in September 2026. It handles almost 8 million payments a day, up from 2.5 million in November 2025. It works inside bank apps and has no app of its own.

Does my recipient need a crypto wallet?

No. Your recipient gets a normal local credit in their usual account or wallet. They never touch stablecoins, and the payment looks like any other domestic transfer.

Is paying out this way legal and compliant?

Yes, when it runs through regulated infrastructure. Yativo is registered with FinCEN as a Money Services Business, registration number 31000270723339. A licensed local payout partner handles the local leg. Your own tax and reporting duties still apply, so confirm them with your advisor.

How long does a quote last?

Quotes from the exchange-rate endpoint hold for 5 minutes. You see the rate, the fees and the exact amount your recipient gets before you confirm.

Start Paying Contractors in Colombia with Yativo

Fund a float balance with USDC or fiat, lock a quote, and let a licensed local payout partner deliver pesos over Bank Transfer or Bre-B in under 30 minutes. SWIFT settles on the next business day. Your contractors get a normal local credit. Your team gets one predictable payment run per cycle. Book a demo to set up your first payout, or contact sales if you already know your monthly volume.

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