Colombian insurers had recorded an estimated $3.7 trillion COP in claims value tied to the August 10, 2026, earthquake as of September 7, according to the fourth weekly damage report published by Fasecolda, formally the Federación de Aseguradores Colombianos (Federation of Colombian Insurers), the trade group representing the country’s insurance companies. The figure is up $1 trillion COP from the previous week’s report and comes one month after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck near San José del Palmar, in the Chocó department, according to Semana. As of September 7, Colombia’s Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (National Disaster Risk Management Unit, or UNGRD) had counted 331 deaths, 111 people missing and 4,505 injured, with nearly 467,000 people affected across 498 municipalities, Semana reported.

The estimated claims value has grown roughly tenfold since insurers’ first weekly report on August 14, when it stood at $370 billion COP. It rose to $1.2 trillion COP by August 21, $2.67 trillion COP by August 28 and $3.7 trillion COP in the report released September 8, covering the period through September 7.

Estimated earthquake insurance claims value in Colombia grew from $370 billion COP to $3.7 trillion COP across four weekly Fasecolda reports. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Fasecolda data)

Insurers had received 68,270 claims as of the September 7 cutoff, up from 66,370 in the prior report, a 3% increase in eight days. That volume is up 550% from the 10,465 claims logged in insurers’ first balance during the initial emergency response, before the weekly reporting series began. Claims have been filed in 451 municipalities across 31 departments, according to Fasecolda.

The number of earthquake-related insurance claims filed in Colombia rose from 13,855 to 68,270 across four weekly Fasecolda reports. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Fasecolda data)

Insurers have paid out $95.08 billion COP in indemnities to affected policyholders, up 121% from the prior weekly report, funds Fasecolda said are reaching homeowners, businesses and residential co-ownership associations directly. The disbursed total remains a small fraction of the $3.7 trillion COP insurers expect to eventually pay, reflecting how early the claims process remains a month into a filing window that runs two years from the date of the earthquake.

Gustavo Morales, Fasecolda’s chief executive, framed the figures as a reflection of both the scale of the damage and the industry’s remaining workload.

“A month after the earthquake, our priority continues to be standing by the people, families, businesses and co-ownership associations affected.”

— Gustavo Morales, chief executive, Fasecolda

The five hardest-hit departments by claims volume are Valle del Cauca, with 28,201 claims, $46.22 billion COP paid out and an estimated $1.35 trillion COP in total claims value; Risaralda, with 14,755 claims, $26.34 billion COP paid and an estimated $1.30 trillion COP in claims value; Quindío, with 8,158 claims, $12.45 billion COP paid and an estimated $256 billion COP in claims value; Caldas, with 3,998 claims, $4.68 billion COP paid and an estimated $220 billion COP in claims value; and Antioquia, with 5,847 claims, $660 million COP paid and an estimated $106 billion COP in claims value.

Valle del Cauca and Risaralda account for the largest share of estimated earthquake insurance claims value by department. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Fasecolda data)

By line of business, earthquake coverage — which Fasecolda groups together with homeowners’ and fire policies — accounts for the large majority of reserved claims value nationally: 63,786 claims and a $3.34 trillion COP reserve. Business-interruption coverage, known in Colombia as lucro cesante, accounts for just five claims but a $33.9 billion COP reserve, reflecting the size of the commercial policies involved. Automobile coverage accounts for 1,219 claims and a $22.9 billion COP reserve, and occupational-risk coverage, which insures workplace injury and death, accounts for 1,113 claims and a $16.6 billion COP reserve.

Earthquake, home and fire coverage account for the large majority of Colombia’s national earthquake-related insurance reserve. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Fasecolda data)

Fasecolda has published a claims guide on fasecolda.com intended to walk affected policyholders through what to do if they suffered damage, how to report a claim, which coverage may apply and the steps to file with their insurer. The federation reiterated that affected policyholders have up to two years from the date of the earthquake to file a claim, and can do so directly with their insurance company or through their broker without an intermediary.

The insurance-claims tally follows emergency measures Colombia’s financial regulator, the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Financial Superintendency of Colombia, superfinanciera.gov.co), proposed within days of the earthquake to ease the burden on affected borrowers and claimants, including extended loan terms, waived default fees and fast-track insurance payment channels, as Finance Colombia reported in the days after the disaster.

Headline photo by Rupert Stebbings

The monitor is built to anticipate Colombia’s official inflation reading before the National Administrative Department of Statistics, or DANE, publishes it. Grupo Cibest’s analytics team blends daily purchasing data from Servinformación, a company that tracks sales activity in neighborhood stores and small grocery outlets, with wholesale price information collected through DANE’s Sistema de Información de Precios y Abastecimiento del Sector Agropecuario (Agricultural Sector Price and Supply Information System), known by its acronym SIPSA. The report is signed by Laura Clavijo, Grupo Cibest’s chief economist and head of research; Arturo Yesid Gonzalez, quantitative and analytics manager; and Sebastian Ospina, data controller.

Perishable food prices drove Colombia’s food inflation in August 2026, rising 9.32% year over year versus 4.57% for processed food. (Chart: DANE, SIPSA, Servinformación; estimates by Grupo Cibest)

Perishable food prices rose 0.92% for the month and 9.32% year over year, more than double the pace of processed foods. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Grupo Cibest data)

Perishable food prices, the more volatile half of Colombia’s food basket, swung from a 0.83% monthly decline in July to a 0.92% increase in August, pushing their annual rate to 9.32%, Grupo Cibest said in the report. Processed food prices, packaged and industrially prepared goods that are less exposed to weather and harvest cycles, rose a comparatively modest 0.12% for the month, which Grupo Cibest said was two basis points above July’s reading, implying a July increase of roughly 0.10%; the annual rate for processed food stood at 4.57%.

Perishable food prices swung from a 0.83% monthly decline in July to a 0.92% increase in August 2026. (Chart: DANE, SIPSA, Servinformación; estimates by Grupo Cibest)

Perishable food prices reversed course within a single month. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Grupo Cibest data)

Grupo Cibest attributed the swing in perishables to “a combination of adverse factors,” naming wildfires in the department of Tolima, the advance of El Niño, and damage from the earthquake that struck Valle del Cauca and Armenia, in Quindío department. On August 10, a magnitude-7.4 earthquake centered near San José del Palmar, in Chocó department, struck a wide swath of western Colombia. As of August 24, Colombia’s disaster relief agency, the Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management), had confirmed 331 deaths and 240 people still missing, with damage reported across 16 departments and 494 municipalities, including Valle del Cauca, Chocó, Quindío, Risaralda and Caldas, according to newspaper Vanguardia.

At around the same time, a wildfire season in Tolima burned more than 20,000 hectares of vegetation across 13 municipalities during August, according to reporting by El Tiempo. Colombia’s meteorological institute, IDEAM, has confirmed that El Niño arrived roughly three months earlier than initially projected and is on track to reach one of the strongest intensities recorded since 1950 by the fourth quarter of 2026.

Nearly every item in the fruits and vegetables segment got more expensive in August. Potatoes led the group with an 8.5% monthly jump, and prices for vegetables and legumes climbed 7.1%. Oranges were up 6.0%, rounding out the largest gains Grupo Cibest recorded for the category.

Potatoes, vegetables and legumes, and oranges led monthly produce price gains in Colombia in August 2026. (Chart: DANE, SIPSA, Servinformación; estimates by Grupo Cibest)

Potatoes led monthly gains in the fruits and vegetables segment. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Grupo Cibest data)

The picture was less uniform for animal protein. Processed meats climbed 1.15% for the month, the largest gain in that group, while beef added 0.4%. Pork moved the opposite direction, down 0.7%, and poultry slipped 0.3%. Grupo Cibest did not explain what is driving pork and poultry lower while beef and processed meats rise.

Protein prices were mixed in August 2026, with processed meats, beef, poultry and pork posting divergent monthly changes. (Chart: DANE, SIPSA, Servinformación; estimates by Grupo Cibest)

Processed meats and beef rose in August while pork and poultry prices fell. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on Grupo Cibest data)

The estimate marks a sharp reversal from Colombia’s most recent official reading. DANE reported that consumer prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell 0.13% in July, a below-average reading in a month when the country’s overall annual inflation rate eased to 6.03% from 6.14% in June. If Grupo Cibest’s August estimate holds once DANE publishes its own figure, food would go from subtracting from monthly inflation to adding to it within a single month.

Grupo Cibest estimates food prices rose 0.31% in August 2026, reversing DANE’s official -0.13% reading for July. (Chart: DANE; estimates by Grupo Cibest)

Colombia’s food consumer price index went from an official monthly decline in July to an estimated increase in August. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on DANE and Grupo Cibest data)

Other economists are also revising their outlooks upward because of the earthquake. Citing the risk of supply restrictions, higher demand for emergency relief goods, and damage to transportation infrastructure, Banco de Bogotá‘s economic research team projected monthly inflation of 0.2% in August and 0.3% in September, with the annual rate closing 2026 at 6.8%, according to reporting by Semana. Oxford Economics offered a more measured view, noting that the Colombian peso’s appreciation of nearly 15% during 2026 has been helping offset both El Niño and the earthquake’s impact on food costs, and it expects overall inflation to hold near 6% through year-end.

Beef and beef products carry the single heaviest weight of any food category in Colombia’s consumer price index, at 1.9%, followed by poultry meat at 1.2%, milk at 1.0% and rice at 0.9%, according to the weighting Grupo Cibest published alongside its report. That concentration means price swings in cattle and poultry markets carry an outsized effect on the overall food inflation reading compared with lower-weighted items such as coffee or sugar, even when those categories move by a larger percentage.

Perishable and processed food categories carry different weights in Colombia’s consumer price index, shaping how segment-level swings feed into the headline number. (Chart: DANE)

Beef carries nearly double the CPI weight of the next-largest food category. (Chart: Finance Colombia, based on DANE and Servinformación data prepared by Grupo Cibest)

DANE is expected to publish its official August consumer price index reading in the coming weeks, providing the first confirmation of whether food prices accelerated at the pace Grupo Cibest is projecting. The reading will also feed into deliberations at Banco de la República, Colombia’s central bank, which has been working to bring annual inflation back toward its 3% target from the 6.03% recorded in July.

Colombia’s national government has contracted five parametric agricultural insurance policies covering 14,402 smallholder farmers across Sucre, Córdoba, Cundinamarca, Meta and Chocó, with protection extending to as many as 41,600 people in farming households. The policies provide up to $20.14 million in coverage against drought and excess rainfall as Colombia prepares for the anticipated effects of El Niño in the second half of 2026.

The policies took effect August 1, 2026, giving participating departments a financial mechanism designed to respond more quickly when severe weather thresholds are reached.

“Preparing for El Niño means acting before disasters strike. Through this collaboration between the national government, the five participating departments and international partners, we are providing smallholder farmers with the financial protection they need to manage climate risks and protect their livelihoods.” – Lucy Inés García Montes, Governor of Sucre

The initiative is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and FINAGRO, in coordination with the governments of the five participating departments.

The program was delivered through the Tripartite Agreement Programme, a public-private partnership involving the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with financing channeled through the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF).

How parametric insurance works

Unlike conventional agricultural insurance, which generally requires an assessment of physical losses before a claim can be paid, the policies use a satellite-derived Water Balance Index monitored at the municipal level.

The index compares current conditions with historical data to identify periods of severe drought or excess rainfall. When predetermined thresholds are exceeded, payments are triggered automatically, potentially allowing affected farmers to receive financial support without waiting for individual loss assessments.

The product was co-designed by MADR with an IDF-member consortium comprising Guy Carpenter, Swiss Re, AXA Climate, Munich Re, insurtech company Raincoat and Colombian insurer La Previsora.

The consortium members and ISF co-financed the initiative, while the first-year premium was jointly funded by the Colombian government and ISF.

First departmental use of parametric insurance

The program represents the first use of parametric insurance by departmental governments in Colombia as a tool for agricultural risk management, according to the organizations involved.

For participating departments, the coverage is intended to provide a source of rapid financing following severe climate events while reducing reliance on emergency public funds. The initiative is also designed to establish the technical, legal and financial foundations for expanding parametric agricultural insurance to additional departments.

José Fernando Sánchez, senior vice president of Guy Carpenter Colombia and an IDF member, said the consortium’s participation demonstrated the potential of public-private collaboration to protect livelihoods and strengthen Colombia’s insurance market.

Dr. Annette Detken, head of the InsuResilience Solutions Fund, said climate-risk insurance can help smallholder farmers and rural communities recover more quickly from drought and excess rainfall.

The UNDP worked with MADR and FINAGRO to integrate the insurance policies into Colombia’s broader agricultural risk-management framework. Its work included supporting product development and strengthening the institutional capacity of departmental governments to adopt parametric insurance.

The program comes as Colombia seeks to strengthen financial tools for managing agricultural exposure to increasingly volatile weather conditions. By using predefined climate indicators rather than conventional claims assessments, parametric coverage is designed to provide liquidity soon after a qualifying event and help farmers maintain their livelihoods and productive capacity.

Building a model for climate-risk financing

The five policies cover farmers in departments with different agricultural profiles and climate exposures, creating a multi-region test of how satellite-based insurance can operate within Colombia’s decentralized agricultural risk-management system.

The initiative’s backers say the experience could provide a foundation for scaling parametric insurance to other parts of the country, while building local government capacity to identify, finance and manage climate risks.

For smallholder farmers, the immediate benefit is financial protection against weather events that can damage crops and undermine household income. For governments and insurers, the program offers a way to shift part of the financial burden of climate-related agricultural losses away from emergency response and toward pre-arranged risk financing.

The Insurance Development Forum is a public-private partnership co-chaired by UNDP and the World Bank Group that brings insurance expertise together with public policy and development priorities to strengthen resilience to disasters.

Headline photo by Frank Meriño via Pexels)

Colombia’s Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Financial Superintendency of Colombia, or SFC) has published for public comment a draft external circular that would give banks, insurers and other supervised financial institutions temporary instructions to assist consumers affected by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck the country on August 10, 2026. The comment period, open since August 12, closes at 11:59 p.m. on August 14, 2026, giving industry and the public a two-business-day window to respond, according to the draft text and the SFC’s own consultation record.

The earthquake, with an epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar in Chocó department and a depth of 96 kilometers, triggered 991 additional seismic events within a 900-kilometer radius, according to figures cited in the SFC’s draft circular, including 115 in the magnitude 5.0-to-5.9 range, 18 between magnitude 6.0 and 6.9, and three exceeding magnitude 7.0. The national government declared a state of national disaster the following day, August 11, through Decree 1171, covering Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Chocó, Quindío, Cundinamarca, Risaralda, Huila, Valle del Cauca, Tolima, Putumayo, Norte de Santander and other affected territories for an initial 12 months, renewable for an equal term, as Finance Colombia reported at the time.

Death toll still climbing

As of the evening of August 12, Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella cited a balance from the Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, or UNGRD) showing a toll that had continued to climb since the quake struck two days earlier.

“We have 25,872 affected families, 53,816 people, sadly 265 dead, 3,494 injured, and the number of missing has risen alarmingly to 496.”— Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella, citing the UNGRD balance, August 12, 2026

The same balance reported 11,347 homes destroyed and 53,526 damaged, 140 buildings collapsed, and 1,819 schools and 631 community centers affected. Earlier counts from the same day had put the toll lower, underscoring that the figures remained provisional; international search-and-rescue teams, coordinated by UNGRD, were still arriving as of August 13 to assist Colombian personnel, and officials have cautioned the toll is likely to keep rising.

Colombia’s disaster management law, Ley 1523 de 2012, activates a special legal regime once a national disaster is declared, including articles 86 and 87, which allow affected debtors to seek refinancing of existing obligations. The SFC’s draft circular says it is exercising its instruction authority under the Estatuto Orgánico del Sistema Financiero (Organic Statute of the Financial System) and Decree 2555 of 2010 to translate that legal framework into binding instructions for the institutions it supervises.

Refinancing terms for affected borrowers

Under the draft measures, lending institutions would be required to adopt refinancing programs for borrowers affected by the disaster, subject to conditions drawn directly from the 2012 law: refinancing would apply only to obligations contracted before August 10, 2026, with payments due on or after that date; the new loan term could not exceed double the remaining term or 20 years, whichever is shorter; refinanced terms could not be more burdensome than the original ones; and borrowers would have to apply while the disaster declaration remains in force. No interest or late fees would accrue between the disaster declaration and the completion of the renegotiation, a period the draft caps at 90 days. Lenders could also offer additional voluntary relief, such as grace periods or special interest rates, provided the terms are no more burdensome for the consumer and the measures are not applied as a blanket restructuring practice rather than case-by-case review.

Credits refinanced under the program would keep the risk rating they carried before the disaster was declared, with credit-bureau reporting frozen for up to 12 months after the refinancing is completed, and the draft specifies the refinancing would not count as a modification or restructuring for prudential reporting purposes. Lenders would also be permitted to use alternative data sources to assess a borrower’s future repayment capacity, accounting for the likely economic recovery of the borrower’s sector.

Insurers, fund managers and severance withdrawals

Insurance companies would be required to establish expedited claims and payment channels for policyholders in affected areas, prioritize payment of healthcare providers’ invoices tied to the disaster, and adopt policies to facilitate premium payments, including for policies unrelated to credit operations. Trust companies and brokerage firms would be asked to evaluate mechanisms to speed redemptions from open-end investment funds without a minimum holding period, and to consider waiving early-redemption penalties for funds that carry one, for consumers affected by the disaster. Severance-fund administrators would be instructed to expedite housing-related severance withdrawals for affected members, within the bounds of Colombia’s existing severance-withdrawal rules.

The draft also directs supervised entities more broadly to maintain continuity of financial services where security conditions allow, disclose any changes to branch hours or closures, strengthen digital channels, and activate business-continuity plans in affected zones; to clearly publicize the terms of any relief programs; and to set up priority service channels for complaints and claims tied to the disaster. The SFC said it would establish its own priority contact channel to help affected consumers navigate complaints against supervised entities.

In its internal cost-benefit review, the SFC’s research and analysis unit found no reason to delay the proposal, concluding that reduced default risk, faster insurance payouts and improved liquidity access for affected consumers would outweigh the compliance costs institutions face in adapting systems, training staff and expanding service channels. The regulator said the draft requires no new budget appropriations and can be implemented with existing staff and technology. It also said a competition-impact questionnaire it completed under Colombia’s competition-advocacy rules returned entirely negative responses, meaning no referral to the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (Superintendency of Industry and Commerce) was required.

A two-day window, and a toll still being counted

The SFC set the unusually short two-business-day comment window under an exception in Colombian regulatory procedure that allows shortened public consultation periods when a rule responds to urgent, unforeseeable circumstances. The regulator said the scale of the disaster and the need for a prompt, uniform response from the financial sector justified the shortened timeline. Comments can be submitted using a standard form referencing filing number 2026182440, by email to normativa@superfinanciera.gov.co or in writing to the SFC’s deputy director of regulation. If adopted, the circular would take effect upon publication and would remain in force for as long as the national disaster declaration stands, though any relief already granted to consumers would continue on its own terms after the circular expires.

Colombia has also drawn $1.3 billion USD in international pledges since the earthquake struck. The comment window closes before search-and-rescue operations are expected to conclude, and the casualty figures the SFC cites as justification for the rule are themselves preliminary and likely to keep changing.

Above photo – Damage in Pereira, Colombia (Photo: Vance Campbell)

Colombia’s financial system handled 6,078 million operations in the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest operations report from the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Financial Superintendency of Colombia), the country’s banking and securities regulator.

Credit institutions and specialized electronic deposit and payment companies, known by their Spanish acronym SEDPE, accounted for those 6,078 million operations. Of that total, 3,568 million were monetary operations worth $3,153 trillion COP, and 2,509 million were non-monetary, such as balance inquiries.

“84.6% of all operations were carried out through non-presential channels, accounting for 69.9% of the value transacted.” — Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, first-quarter 2026 operations report

Separately, low-value payment system administrators, or EASPBV, together with the Banco de la República (Colombia’s central bank), processed 963 million monetary operations worth $1,081 trillion COP.

The Financial Superintendency of Colombia estimated that 66% of monetary interactions came from mobile applications. Stock photo by Kevin Schneider via Pixabay.

Non-presential channels — those that do not require a visit to a branch or physical point — continued to account for the bulk of activity, handling 84.6% of all operations and 69.9% of the value transacted. The remaining 15.4% of operations went through in-person channels. For the quarter, internet and bank offices were the channels through which the largest amounts of money moved.

Among in-person channels, the largest share of operations was concentrated in three departments: Bogotá at 33%, Antioquia at 25%, and Valle del Cauca at 13%.

For monetary operations, mobile applications were the most-used channel at 66%, followed by point-of-sale terminals at 13%. For non-monetary operations, mobile applications accounted for 81% and internet for 16%, while interactive voice response systems, virtual assistants, and telephone call centers were the least used.

Measured by the volume of payments tied to economic activity, professional, scientific, and technical activities led with 27% of the total. They were followed by wholesale and retail trade, including motor vehicle and motorcycle repair, at 19%; financial and insurance activities at 12%; information and communications at 11%; and electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply at 10%.

Headline image: Stock photo by Rupixen via Pixabay.

A new English-language microsite aimed at foreign portfolio investors in Colombia’s capital markets went live June 3, the product of a public-private working group that has been operating since late 2023. The platform, called “Foreign Portfolio Investor,” is accessible through the website of the Financial Superintendency of Colombia (Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, SFC) at superfinanciera.gov.co.

The microsite offers information in English on the structure of the Colombian capital market, its participants, operating procedures covering enrollment, ongoing participation and divestment, issuers and issuances, links to statistical data, applicable regulations, and frequently asked questions. The initiative operates under the broader program titled Mercado de Capitales en Colombia, Colombia Destino de Inversión (Capital Markets in Colombia, Colombia Investment Destination).

The web page can be reached at: https://www.superfinanciera.gov.co/publicaciones/10115712/foreign-portfolio-investor/ 

“Historically, foreign investors have faced the challenge of understanding the functioning of the Colombian securities market,” said SFC Financial Superintendent César Ferrari (above photo). “The new microsite is a first step in addressing this challenge by offering, in clear English, information necessary to make foreign portfolio investments in Colombia.”

The working groups behind the project brought together several government bodies, including the Banco de la República, the Financial Regulatory Unit (Unidad de Regulación Financiera, URF) of the Ministry of Finance, and the National Tax and Customs Directorate (Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, DIAN). From the private sector, the Securities Market Self-Regulator (Autorregulador del Mercado de Valores, AMV) and the Colombian Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, BVC: BVC) contributed to the platform’s development.

Carlos Emilio Betancourt Galeano, Director General of the DIAN, said the microsite addresses a core barrier to attracting foreign capital. “Providing clear and easily accessible information reduces barriers, improves understanding of the regulatory environment and strengthens the confidence of international investors,” he said.

URF Director Larisa Caruso said the platform addresses language as a structural obstacle to market participation. “This microsite represents an important milestone to strengthen the internationalization of the Colombian capital market and will allow foreign investors to better understand the regulation and the particularities of the local market, promoting greater transparency, trust and access to information, while contributing to reducing entry barriers associated with language,” she said.

AMV President Hernán Alzate described the launch as part of a longer-term positioning effort. “It represents a decisive step to position Colombia as an attractive and reliable destination for international investment,” he said. “Facilitating access to clear and timely information is critical to strengthening foreign investor confidence in an increasingly interconnected world.”

Andrés Restrepo Montoya, CEO of the BVC, framed the microsite as part of the exchange’s ongoing efforts to draw international capital. “To attract investment we must also facilitate access to clear and reliable information,” he said. “This is an important step to bring foreign investors closer to the Colombian capital market.”

The initiative comes as Colombia’s capital markets face scrutiny from international investors and ratings agencies over the country’s fiscal trajectory. The working group structure that produced the microsite has been active since late 2023, with the SFC serving as lead coordinator across multiple public and private stakeholders.

Instacart, a US grocery technology company serving more than 2,200 retail banners and nearly 100,000 stores, announced the acquisition of Instaleap, a Colombia-founded fulfillment and retail technology platform operating in nearly 30 countries, in a deal whose financial terms were not disclosed.

The transaction represents one of Instacart’s most significant international moves since going public in 2023 and strengthens its expansion outside North America, particularly in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

Instacart, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker CART, is seeking to expand its enterprise technology platform focused on omnichannel commerce and the digital transformation of supermarkets and retailers.

“We see a meaningful opportunity to expand internationally through an enterprise-led strategy that empowers retailers across the globe to meet the evolving omnichannel needs of their customers,” Ryan Hamburger, chief commercial officer at Instacart, said in the company’s statement.

Global expansion driven by Latin American technology

Instaleap develops software solutions for supermarkets, pharmacies and consumer goods retailers, enabling them to manage orders, logistics, picking operations and customer experience across digital channels.

The company has processed more than 100 million transactions and maintains commercial relationships with nearly 100 retailers and marketplaces outside North America, including Cencosud, Éxito, Makro, Continente, Jerónimo Martins (owners of Tiendas Ara), Lulu, and SPAR.

The acquisition also allows Instacart to accelerate its presence in regions where it previously had limited operations. The company had already begun deploying products such as Storefront Pro and its AI-powered Caper Carts in Europe and Australia but lacked a consolidated network in Latin America and the Middle East.

Instaleap to continue operating as subsidiary

According to the companies, Instaleap will initially continue operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Instacart to ensure continuity for existing customers during the integration process.

“We’ve built our platform with a deep focus on the unique needs of grocery retailers across diverse international markets. Joining Instacart enables us to scale our impact with the support of a trusted partner that shares our commitment to retailer success,” said Antonio dos Santos Nunes, CEO and co-founder of Instaleap.

The company was founded in Colombia in 2019 by Portuguese entrepreneurs Antonio dos Santos Nunes and Margarida Freitas, the company’s current COO. Both joined the global entrepreneurship network Endeavor in 2025.

The companies did not disclose whether Instaleap’s current management team will remain in place after the transition period.

E-commerce growth fuels regional expansion

The announcement comes amid sustained growth in e-commerce across Latin America, particularly in Colombia.

According to figures cited in the statements, Colombian e-commerce grew 19.9% in 2025, reaching $684.6 million USD transactions, while the regional online grocery market surpassed $3.62 billion USD last year.

Instacart reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.09 billion USD in 2025, representing 23% year-over-year growth, along with 312 million processed orders.

With the acquisition, the company expects to gradually extend additional solutions to Instaleap’s clients, including e-commerce services, retail media, artificial intelligence and in-store technology.

The revision reflects a sustained improvement in operating profitability and asset quality metrics. According to the ratings agency, the move is supported by a business model focused on payroll loan (libranza) products, specifically targeting the pensioner segment in Colombia.

“Libranzas” is a form of payroll lending that works via payroll deduction, ensuring that the lender gets paid before discretionary spending.

As of the close of 2025, Ban100 reported a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio (over 30 days) of 1.8%, a decrease from the 2.4% recorded in 2024. This figure remains below the financial system average of 3.8%. Fitch attributed this performance to the bank’s niche specialization and controlled operational structure across more than 1,000 municipalities.

Financial data indicates that the bank’s operating profit to risk-weighted assets ratio rose to 2.12% at the end of 2025, representing a 3.8-fold increase compared to 2024. The recovery in profitability was driven by lower provision requirements, higher debt recoveries, and efficient management of administrative expenses.

The bank’s balance sheet showed total assets of $2.8 trillion COP at the end of 2025. Funding remains diversified, with deposits reaching $2.3 trillion COP and securitization operations totaling $390,000 million COP during the same period. Total loan disbursements for the year exceeded $1.096 trillion COP.

Héctor Chaves, president of Ban100, stated that the outlook upgrade confirms the discipline of the bank’s growth strategy during a challenging period for the Colombian financial sector. The institution continues to focus on providing formal credit access to the base of the population and retired citizens.

The ‘AA-(col)’ rating indicates a very low expectation of default risk relative to other issuers or obligations in the same country. Ban100, which has operated for 13 years, maintains its headquarters in Bogotá and provides savings and investment products alongside its core lending business.

Photo from Linkedin account of Ban100

The agreement, initially announced on January 6, 2025, provided Scotiabank with an approximate 20% ownership stake in the newly formed holding company, Davivienda Group, in exchange for the transferred operations. The combined operations of both institutions will be managed under the Davivienda Group umbrella.

Scott Thomson, President and CEO of Scotiabank, commented that the completion of the transfer supports the bank’s International Banking strategy, citing the achievement of operational scale across its regional markets and projected improvements in profitability. Thomson also noted that the equity stake provides Scotiabank with exposure to a combined business positioned for scale, potential synergies, and an expanded client base under a single management team.

Javier Suárez, CEO of Davivienda Group, stated that the transaction integrates complementary capabilities and expertise, positioning the group to expand business development opportunities and scale operations by leveraging Scotiabank’s global experience with Davivienda’s regional expertise across Colombia and Central America.

The integration plan dictates that the former Scotiabank operations in Colombia and Costa Rica will operate under a transitional brand, DAVIbank. In Panama, the businesses will fully transition to the Davivienda brand.

Scotiabank and Davivienda are expected to collaborate to strengthen their combined global reach. This cooperation is designed to allow Davivienda to expand its international product offerings as a regional player, while enabling Scotiabank to continue supporting its Corporate, Wealth, and Global Banking and Markets clients throughout Davivienda’s operational footprint.

Financial and Regulatory Impact

Scotiabank forecasts recording an after-tax loss of approximately $300,000,000 CAD in the first quarter of 2026 within its Other segment. This loss is primarily related to the release of cumulative foreign currency translation losses, net of hedges.

For accounting purposes, Scotiabank’s investment in Davivienda will be recorded as an investment in associate. The company anticipates an approximate 10 basis points benefit to its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio for Q1 2026, primarily resulting from the reduction in risk-weighted assets net of the Davivienda investment.