What Is Bre-B?
Bre-B is the instant payment system from the Bank of the Republic of Colombia. It enables interoperable payments between financial institutions in real-time, 24/7/365 with settlement in central bank money. Through TumiPay, merchants can both accept and disburse funds using Bre-B. The platform supports:- Bre-B PayOut for instant disbursements to individuals identified by a Bre-B key or interoperable QR. See Colombia PayOut › Bre-B for the full flow.
- Bre-B PayIn for collecting funds from customers through Bre-B-enabled experiences. See Colombia PayIn › Bre-B for request details and examples.
Key Behaviors
- Immediate settlement: Transactions clear through MOL in central bank money within seconds.
- 24/7 availability: Operates continuously, including weekends and holidays.
- Key-based routing: Payouts require resolving a Bre-B key via the centralized directory (DICE) before funds are sent.
- Transaction ceiling: The current limit per instruction is $11,552,000 COP.
- Interoperable QR: Supports P2M experiences with a single QR that works across participating entities.
- Secure connectivity: Requests must include valid authentication headers and be sent over HTTPS.
Implementation Checklist
- Enable Bre-B with your TumiPay account manager and validate liquidity arrangements.
- Configure credentials (Basic Auth + Token-Top) for the sandbox and production environments.
- Define webhook handling for real-time status updates. Refer to Webhooks for payload expectations.
- Plan key resolution within payout flows to confirm destination accounts before disbursement.
- Validate with sandbox data provided in the PayIn and PayOut guides before moving to production.
Glossary of Terms
Where to Go Next
- Follow the Colombia PayOut › Bre-B guide to configure instant disbursements.
- Review the Colombia PayIn › Bre-B guide for collection flows and example requests.
- Check the global webhooks documentation to manage status notifications.