Colombia's central bank announced on Sunday that scheduled maintenance on Bre-B infrastructure, the instant low-value payments system launched in October 2025, has concluded. While users were warned of possible intermittencies, no widespread disruptions were reported. Bre-B enables quick, free interbank transfers using simple identifiers like ID numbers or email addresses.
Colombia's central bank, known as the Issuer, confirmed on Sunday the completion of scheduled maintenance on Bre-B infrastructure. This system, which began operations in October 2025, facilitates instant low-value payments between financial institutions, advancing the digitization of transactions in the country.
Prior to Bre-B, interbank transfers could take hours or days and often involved high costs. Now, with free and immediate service, users can send or receive funds in under a minute. "Bre-B arrives with gratuity and immediacy. We won't have to wait more than 1 minute to receive or send low-value money deposits," explained Ana María Prieto, director of Payment Systems at the central bank.
The system uses 'keys' for identification, such as ID numbers, email addresses, or phone numbers, instead of traditional account numbers, simplifying the process. Just one day after its full rollout in October 2025, 84.7 million such keys were registered, indicating rapid adoption amid the shift from cash to digital payments.
During the maintenance, the bank warned of potential intermittencies, but no reports of widespread disruptions emerged, ensuring service continuity for millions of users.
