Raynor de Best
Content expert covering payments and (crypto)currencies
Remittance flow in Colombia - statistics & facts
Remittance flow in Colombia focuses almost exclusively on inflow, as the country receives over 22 times more remittances than it sends out. Over half of all cross-border money transfers towards Colombia came from either the United States or Venezuela in 2021. The inflow from the United States was almost the size of the number three country of origin, Spain, and the number four, Ecuador, combined. That said, Colombia was not the most likely destination of U.S. remittances in Latin America - with less than one third of all remittances received in the country coming from the United States. Colombia also did not rank among Latin America's top receiving countries of personal remittances: it found itself in position 17 out of a ranking of 24 territories across Central and South America in 2022.
Remittances typically refer to money sent from migrant workers back home to family and friends. As of 2024, it is a topic with many data gaps. Little is known on the role of banks, money transfer organizations (MTOs), or digital sources (blockchain, etc.). Regardless, which brands are common for remittances going to Colombia? And how much of them are conducted digitally?
Remittances typically refer to money sent from migrant workers back home to family and friends. As of 2024, it is a topic with many data gaps. Little is known on the role of banks, money transfer organizations (MTOs), or digital sources (blockchain, etc.). Regardless, which brands are common for remittances going to Colombia? And how much of them are conducted digitally?
Digital payments to Colombia mainly come from Spain
Based on the remittance channels used to Colombia, only a small part of remittances are conducted in a purely digital way: cash was still involved either as the remittance initiator or the pickup method at the end of the process in nearly nine out of 10 remittances sent to the country. The market share of digital end-to-end transfers did increase between 2022 and 2023. The main corridor responsible for this change was the Spain-Colombia corridor, where digital end-to-end remittances comprised about 15 percent of all remittances sent from Spain to Colombia. This is relatively surprising, as the costs of sending money from Spain to Columbia when using cash were lower than digital payment methods. That said, bank account transfers were noticeably high in this corridor.Go Vianex the main MTO between the U.S. and Colombia
When it comes to remittances received in Colombia, regardless of country of origin, MoneyGram was used the most. The MTO outranked other major remittance brands used in money transfers to Colombia. That said, brands were different at the corridor level. Go Vianex was used the most in remittances sent from the United States to Colombia, not Western Union or Moneygram. This was likely due to the low costs of Go Vianex in the United States-Colombia corridor, when compared to other brands in the United States. Note that a crypto-related MTO such as OKX was not included in these figures. Whether cryptocurrency plays an important role in money transfers to Colombia is not yet clear.
