Colombia’s two dominant mobile wallets, Nequi and DaviPlata, allow foreigners with a valid cedula de extranjeria (CE, the foreign ID) or, for Venezuelans, a Permiso por Proteccion Temporal (PPT), to open fully functional accounts through a smartphone in minutes, without visiting a bank branch, without a traditional savings account, and without minimum balances, making them the practical entry point into Colombia’s formal financial system for residents who have not yet qualified for a conventional bank product.
The reach of these mobile wallets matters because Colombia’s financial inclusion rate still leaves a significant portion of the adult population outside the traditional banking system, so both platforms function under supervision of the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Colombia’s Financial Superintendency), meaning they carry the same regulatory protections as a bank deposit, including fraud monitoring and consumer rights enforcement, rather than operating in a legal gray area.
Nequi: What you can do and what you need
To open a Nequi account as a foreigner, you need three things: a CE or PPT that is currently valid, an active Colombian phone number from any local carrier, and a mobile device with internet access, since registration is entirely digital through the Nequi app, where you select your document type, enter your CE number, and complete a short identity verification process without visiting any office.
Once opened, a Nequi mobile wallet lets you send and receive pesos to any Nequi account using only a phone number, pay utility bills, and services directly from the app, recharge mobile data and minutes, and receive incoming funds from abroad via Ria Money Transfer or PayPal, though the PayPal route carries a 5% fee capped at US$11.90 per transaction, which adds up quickly on larger remittances.
For physical and online purchases, Nequi issues a Visa debit card in digital form for 3,000 COP (roughly US$0.81), with an optional physical card available for 22,000 to 25,000 COP, or approximately US$5.98 to US$6.79, and neither card carries a monthly maintenance fee, since you simply spend what you have loaded in the app.
Even so, structural limits define Nequi’s reach for foreigners: It holds pesos only, cannot send money abroad from within the app, and restricts international card payments to a 3% surcharge above the Visa franchise rate, so for foreigners who need multicurrency management, it functions best as the local spending wallet rather than a hub for international transfers.
DaviPlata: The Davivienda-backed complement
Banco Davivienda operates DaviPlata, and because regulators treat it as a deposit product rather than a purely digital service, it accepts CE holders under the same eligibility framework as Nequi; users can withdraw cash at Davivienda ATMs and correspondent banking points (corresponsales bancarios) across Colombia, which makes it the more practical mobile wallet in cities and towns where merchants limit card acceptance or offer unreliable service.
DaviPlata transfers reach any bank account in Colombia, cover QR code payments at affiliated merchants, and support bill payments, all free of charge for standard operations. At the same time, the app also links to Davivienda’s Toque y Pase (tap-and-pay) NFC feature on compatible Android devices, giving CE holders a contactless payment option without a physical card.
Both mobile wallets serve a purpose beyond daily convenience: Every peso transaction recorded through Nequi or DaviPlata builds a verifiable financial footprint that DataCredito and TransUnion begin registering after three to six months of activity, especially once users link transactions to a formal bill or service payment.
Foreigners who use these platforms consistently from their first weeks in Colombia accelerate their credit-history process and thereby open the door to a full Bancolombia or Davivienda savings account, a credit card, and the broader financial life that a cedula de extranjeria was designed to enable.