The Central Bank of Colombia, Banco de la República, today announced it is partnering with ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), the global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, to build a new domestic real-time payments ecosystem as part of a nationwide banking transformation project.
The Central Bank will utilize ACI’s Digital Central Infrastructure, part of the award-winning ACI Enterprise Payments Platform to build the Central Infrastructure of an interoperable, countrywide scheme that includes centralized settlement and addressing services for the existing real-time payments schemes. The project is set to go live in 2025. All current and future schemes will need to connect to the new real-time payments ecosystem to be built.
“We are excited about the real-time payments modernization journey we have embarked upon jointly with ACI Worldwide, a global leader in real-time payments,” said Leonardo Villar, Governor of the Central Bank of Colombia. “It will be the first scheme in Latin America that will be built through collaborative consensus by all stakeholders in the payments ecosystem - government, regulators, private banks and the Central Bank have all been working together with the aim to bring the benefits of real-time payments modernization to Colombian consumers and businesses.”
“With the state-of-the-art technology supplied by ACI Worldwide, we are in a strong position to drive the real-time and digital transformation of Colombia’s payments ecosystem as part of our journey towards a modern, digital, and financially inclusive economy,” Villar continued.
Colombia like other countries in the region is primed to realize significant economic benefits for businesses and consumers from the adoption of real-time payments. Real-time payments improve overall market efficiencies and boost economic growth. Countries that successfully adopt real-time payments can expect additional annual GDP growth of up to 2%, according to a report published by ACI in partnership with GlobalData and the Centre of Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
According to ACI’s 2023 Prime Time for Real-Time report, real-time payments transactions in Latin America’s 4th biggest economy are expected to jump from 15 million in 2022 to 92 million in 2027, a five-year CAGR of 43.4%. These figures are set to rise significantly once the new scheme is live.
“We applaud the Colombian Central Bank for its decision to embrace innovative technologies, its ability to achieve consensus by all players in the payments ecosystem, and its determination to drive change and transformation at dazzling speed,” said Tom Warsop, President and CEO, ACI Worldwide. “Real-time payments improve liquidity in the financial system and overall market efficiencies in the economy. Colombia now has an incredible opportunity to drive economic growth and financial inclusion with the help of real-time payments.”
“ACI Worldwide has a unique track record of successfully building real-time schemes around the world, as well as helping banks, fintechs and other payment service providers to connect to the schemes and offer new, innovative financial services for consumers and businesses,” commented Leonardo Escobar, Head of Latin America, ACI Worldwide. “We are confident our tested and resilient software solutions will contribute to the success of Colombia’s new real-time payments scheme.”