Send Money To Colombia

What you need to transfer money to Colombia

Your service provider will require you verify your identity, for which you will need your driver's license or passport. If sending money to a recipient's Colombian bank account, you will need the bank account details. You will also need your debit/credit card or bank account details to pay for your transfer.
 

Ways of sending money in Colombia

People can send money to Colombia from overseas in a few ways:

• Send money to Colombia bank account
• Send cash to Colombia
• Send mobile airtime top-up or in a mobile wallet

Send money to Colombia bank account

The most affordable way of sending money online to Colombia is directly into a local bank account. Processing time can vary based on how the sender pays for the transfer, the service provider carrying out the transfer, and the receiving bank. The top Colombian banks that allow incoming money transfers include Bancolombia, Banco Daviviend, Scotiabank, and Banco de Bogotá.

To receive an international money transfer, the recipient's bank account must be enabled for overseas transfers. The recipient will need to submit an "Abono Automático"  form for this to happen.

What you need to send money to a Colombian bank account

The information you need includes the recipient's full name, a local bank account number, the name of the receiving bank, and its SWIFT code.

• Colombian bank account numbers may have up to 16 digits.
• A SWIFT code helps identify a particular branch of a bank. Example - The SWIFT code of Banco de Bogotá's Bogota branch is BBOGCOBB.

Send cash to Colombia

It is possible to send money to a cash pick up location in Colombia. Sending money for cash pick up may incur an additional fee and get a less favorable exchange rates . You will need to provide the recipient's name and select a suitable cash pick up center. The recipient needs to provide a valid form of ID and a transaction/reference number to collect the transferred money.

Companies such as WorldRemit, Remitly, and Ria let you carry out cash transfers to Colombia. Here are addresses of some cash pick up centers.

Safety tips for picking up cash in Colombia

Street crime remains prevalent in regions such as Medellin, Bogota, Cali, and the Caribbean coast. Instances of pick-pocketing and mugging are not uncommon. If you plan to collect cash from a physical location or want to withdraw money from an ATM, try doing so inside large commercial buildings, supermarkets, or banks. Remain particularly vigilant after dark.

Exercise caution when visiting places frequented by foreigners and try to avoid visiting rundown areas of cities. Refrain from carrying large amounts of money and wearing expensive jewelry or watches.
 

Send mobile airtime top-up or in a mobile wallet

You may send money to Colombia in the form of a mobile airtime top-up or to a mobile wallet. WorldRemit provides both these alternatives, and Xoom lets you top up mobile airtime. You may add airtime to Colombian phone numbers from service providers such as Virgin Mobile, Movistar, Uff Movil, Tigo, and Claro.
 

Regulations when transferring money to and from Colombia

While Colombia does not impose any foreign exchange controls on trade, it requires that some kinds of transactions should be channeled through authorized intermediaries such as banks and other financial institutions. For instance, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that regulates companies registered in the UK also oversees transfers from the United Kingdom to Colombia. Transactions that need to be declared to Colombia’s Central Bank include:

• Import and export of goods
• Derivative financial operations such as forwards, floors, swaps, collars and caps
• Guarantees and endorsements in foreign currencies
• Overseas loans and related costs
• Investments in foreign assets and securities and all associated profit
• Investment of Colombian capital in other countries and associated remittances of yield
• Investment of capital from other countries and the remittance of profits that follows

When transferring money to a Colombian business, the recipient might need to provide its certificate of incorporation, its tax registration number, a document that illustrates its shareholding structure, and financial statements verified by an accountant.

Cheapest way to send money from Australia to Colombia

XE Money Transfer updated their exchange rate margins for sending money from Australia to Colombia. XE Money Transfer now charges a small fee of 0.4% for the AUDCOP currency transfers. Compare this to TransferWise that charge approximately 2% when transferring money from Australia to Colombia.

Best way to send money to Colombia from the USA

Colombia can attract high fees sending money to Colombia from the USA. XE Money Transfer comes to the rescue by lowering the margins (exchange rate fees) for USDCOP. XE has lowered their exchange rate fee to approximately 0.7%. This makes XE Money Transfer the cheapest and best way to send money from the USA to Colombia.