Payment Trends in 2026 for LATAM: Real-Time and Traceable

B2B cross-border payments in Latin America grew by $25 billion in 2025. The launch of instant payment systems in Colombia with Bre-B and the more than 4.5 billion transactions processed via SPEI in Mexico helped change the game last year.

The message? Companies that don’t update their payment infrastructure by 2026 risk falling behind.

Here are the four payment trends that will define the year, and how the most competitive companies are already preparing with Cobre:

1. Instant Payments: The New Standard for Businesses

The era of 24- to 48-hour ACH transfers is coming to an end. In 2024, according to the Central Bank of Colombia, the volume of instant payments in Colombia grew by 350%. In Mexico, 78% of formal businesses already accept SPEI transfers.

The standard has changed, and by 2026, immediacy will no longer be a differentiator—it will be a requirement.

In Mexico, SPEI processes transactions in less than 30 seconds, 365 days a year, with no time restrictions.

The system processed 5.4 billion transactions in 2024, representing 39% year-over-year growth. Mordor Intelligence projections estimate that the real-time payments market will reach $3.47 billion by 2030.

In Colombia, Bre-B is here to stay. Since its launch in September 2025, the system has processed over 260 million transactions and registered 25.4 million payment keys. Settling transactions in 20 seconds, any day of the year, from any bank.

What does making instant payments mean for your business?

The ability to collect and disburse funds in real time depends on the immediacy of your operations. In Colombia, this is already possible for businesses using Bre-B: 24/7/365 collections via customizable payment keys, without the need to create multiple accounts, and with automatic reconciliation the moment a payment is received.

In Colombia, solutions like Cobre’s Fast Pay enable same-day transfers between financial institutions, maintaining unified visibility of your liquidity.

In Mexico, Cobre offers companies the ability to create virtual CLABE (Standardized Bank Codes) that enable this same efficiency and centralization.

Generate a CLABE per customer in seconds, receive SPEI payments with automatic identification, and centralize all funds in a single account. No manual cross-referencing or Excel spreadsheets required.

If your company still relies on traditional ACH cycles or making transfers from the same bank to ensure they’re immediate, you’re wasting time on something that could be resolved in seconds.

2. Seamless cross-border transactions

McKinsey identified Latin America as the fastest-growing region for payments globally, with revenue expected to grow by 11% in 2024.

The Mexico-Colombia corridor has operated under an active free trade agreement since 1994, and both countries are members of the Pacific Alliance.

Moving millions of dollars in 2025 in the region (LATAM) demonstrated that companies are seeking to make international payments more quickly, securely, and efficiently.

CEO & Co-founder of Cobre, Jose V. Gedeon.

This is coupled with the need to compete on cost for international B2B transactions.

According to the Financial Stability Board, the costs of cross-border retail transactions from Latin America range from 2.7% to 4% depending on the type, well above the G20’s 1% target.

Traditional banks apply spreads of 2–5% on the average exchange rate, plus fees of $25–50 per transaction.

The problem isn’t just the cost. It’s the uncertainty.

When a transfer takes 2–5 business days, the exchange rate can fluctuate significantly.

If you operate on tight margins, that volatility can eat into your profitability before the money even arrives.

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How can you make cross-border payments more competitive for your business?

Through Cobre, businesses in Latin America and around the world can safeguard their international transactions. By quoting a transaction with fixed terms—specifying the currency pair, the amount, and an execution window of up to 72 hours—companies lock in exchange rates before funding the transaction.

In just three months, adoption of Rate Lock grew more than fourfold, and the volume traded increased ninefold.

These figures not only represent record growth but also mark the beginning of a new era where financial stability is no longer a luxury but has become the industry standard.

In other words, if the market moves against you, the rate is already locked in, protecting your capital without tying it up.

Settlement is also changing. Instead of waiting days, with Cobre’s Cross-Border Payments, business transactions from local to global (or global to local) now execute in minutes.

You collect in Colombian or Mexican pesos, convert to USD, and disburse internationally from the same platform. Or vice versa: you receive in dollars, automatically convert to local currency, and pay your suppliers the same day.

3. APIs and Automation

42% of companies report a DSO (days sales outstanding) of more than 60 days. And many of them must seek external financing to sustain their growth due to late payments.

Manual reconciliation is expensive. Every hour your finance team spends cross-checking information in spreadsheets is an hour not spent on strategic analysis, negotiating with suppliers, or cash flow planning.

How can you streamline payment processes?

Streamlining payment processes is possible with API integrations that connect directly to your ERP or technology platform.

According to PwC, 65% of organizations plan to expand their use of APIs for real-time integration with their banking systems over the next 24 months.

In practice, this means:

In Colombia, options like Checkout allow you to design payment experiences without in-house development, while integrations like R2P (Request to Pay) let you embed the payment request directly into your technology, offering your customers a simple and fast payment experience.

4. Digital Assets in Treasury Operations

Institutional adoption of stablecoins in Latin America saw growth of over 100% in high-volume transfers between 2024 and 2025, according to Chainalysis.

This increase reflects how companies in the region are integrating these digital assets into treasury operations, foreign exchange, and cross-border payments.

The total volume of crypto transactions in Latin America reached $1.5 trillion between July 2022 and June 2025, cementing the region’s position as the second-fastest-growing market globally.

Why are companies switching to digital assets for their treasury management?

Companies are choosing digital assets to manage their treasury for two main reasons: currency hedging and efficiency in cross-border payments.

According to EY-Parthenon, 41% of current corporate users report cost savings of at least 10%. Sixty-two percent use them to pay international suppliers.

Mexico has clearer regulations under the 2018 Fintech Law. Colombia operates in a more gray regulatory area, although Bill 510/2025 proposes licensing frameworks for virtual asset operators.

This is not a trend for all companies or all use cases. But it is a sign of where the financial infrastructure is headed.

Companies that understand these tools will have more options when they need to optimize their international operations.

What payment trends are coming in 2026?

The trends are clear:

• Instant payments as the standard, not the exception
• Cross-border payments in minutes, with locked-in rates and no tied-up capital
• Full automation of the collection, conversion, and disbursement cycle
• New payment rails offering alternatives to traditional banking

The gap between companies that adopt these payment trends and infrastructures and those that continue to operate with legacy systems will widen.

ACI Worldwide projects that real-time payments will contribute $285.8 billion to global GDP and create 167 million new bank accounts by 2028.

In Colombia alone, 5.1 million new banked users are expected thanks to Bre-B.

Your customers are already paying in real time elsewhere. Your suppliers are too. The infrastructure is ready, costs are falling, and the window to position yourself as an early adopter is closing.

What you do in the next six months will shape your competitive position for years to come.