No Growth Without Trust: Fighting Fraud in Colombia’s Fintech Industry (2026 Outlook)

Colombia is currently one of the major fintech hubs in Latin America. As of 2025, the country hosts 400+ local fintech startups—and if we count in foreign-headquartered firms operating in Colombia, the market exceeds 560 companies. This places Colombia among the region’s most dynamic ecosystems.

The population is increasingly demanding digital financial services. Internet penetration reached about 63% in 2023, and access to deposit products is now nearly universal, with research estimating that around 95.8% of adults have access to deposit accounts. To compare, in 2025, the internet penetration rate in Colombia is approximately 77.3% of the total population, with about 41.1 million internet users. These conditions favor rapid digital adoption more than ever.

Public policy is moving to support this transformation: regulators and the government advance an Open Finance draft decree and multiple supervisory circulars to create a regulated framework for data sharing and digital finance.

However, rapid digitalization also opens the door to fraudsters. According to estimates, identity theft and financial fraud have increased by over 400% since 2020 in the country. 

The fintech revolution must undoubtedly be framed within a continuous process of combating fraud—an effort that, in turn, creates opportunities for further development. 

Colombia’s fintech landscape 2025: Maturing, sustainable, and inclusive

Colombia’s fintech sector is experiencing a period of consolidation, marking a new stage of industry maturity, as highlighted by Colombia Fintech’s latest Fintech Snapshot Report 2025. This growth is characterized by rapid expansion and a strategic shift from a “growth at all costs” approach to “sustainable growth,” according to the Global Fintech 2025 Report by BCG and QED Investors.

Despite a decrease in fintech investment, industry revenue grew by 21% in 2024, significantly outperforming the traditional financial system’s 7% growth. There is immense growth potential within the fintech industry, given that it has only penetrated 3% of the total revenue in the global financial and insurance sectors.

The Colombian fintech mirrors global trends. Data from Colombia Fintech reveal that digital lending (38.1%) and digital payments (33.3%) are the principal fintech segments, collectively representing over 70% of companies in the country. This highlights the strong demand for essential financial services provided by the fintech industry—specifically, access to credit and digital transactions. On the other hand, segments such as regtech, insurtech, and crypto, though present in the country, occupy more specialized niches.

Fintech services and client relationships vary significantly by segment. Digital lending, for instance, is highly diverse, offering a broad spectrum of products—from consumer loans to specialized financing for vehicles, health, or education. Conversely, segments like neobanks exhibit greater service standardization, with many companies providing similar offerings.

Regarding the ecosystem’s maturity, we observe incipient consolidation: most companies have already exceeded five years of operation and report a sustained increase in revenue.

The ecosystem employs over 29,000 people, an increase of more than a thousand workers compared with the previous year.

Fintech and the digital transformation of financial services have had a profound impact on financial inclusion. According to The Global Findex 2025, using mobile phones and the internet to access the financial system has allowed previously excluded segments to enjoy the benefits of digital financial services. However, the growing digitalization driven by the fintech industry also poses new challenges: the rise of fraud, improper use of data, lack of transparency, and inadequate redress mechanisms.

The flip side of the coin: Digital fraud

However, rapid digitalization brings old threats to the forefront, intensified. One of the main challenges associated with the digitalization of financial services lies in the increase in digital fraud in Colombia and LATAM as a whole.

Digital fraud makes it difficult to correctly distinguish a fraudster from a legitimate counterparty. The aggravating factor is the use of AI to create photo, video, or audio deepfakes. Fraud in Colombia is mostly consumer-oriented, targeting areas that depend on customers, such as banking applications.

For instance, in online payments in Colombia, one of the most frequent forms of digital fraud is identity theft—the theft of a customer’s data and/or the execution of unauthorized transactions—as well as credit card and wire fraud.

Other types of fraud spreading across Colombia include corporate fraud, real estate scams, and counterfeit currency. The aggravating factor is the use of AI to create photo, video, or audio deepfakes. The Colombian government recently classified the use of AI in identity theft as an aggravating criminal factor (Law 2502/2025), which demonstrates recognition of AI’s role in evolving fraud schemes.

Fraud rates are a concern not only in Colombia but in broader LATAM. In the 2024 edition of the Digital Banking Fraud Trends in LATAM report, three key trends were highlighted: a 32% increase in reported fraud during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, a 113% rise in malware cases during the first half of 2024, and an increase in the use of mobile devices to commit fraud, showing that 79% of all fraud cases originated from mobile channels. 30% of all fraud in the region came from mobile browsers (as opposed to mobile digital banking applications), which is somewhat unique to the region compared to banks in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.

Fighting fraud as a priority for healthy development in Colombia and LATAM

The fight against fraud should not hinder innovation but rather be driven by it. Colombia stands on the brink of a financial transformation with the launch of initiatives such as Bre-B, the new fast payments system, and Open Finance, both designed to deliver more efficient and accessible digital financial services for citizens. These projects are expected to accelerate the adoption of digital payments and further reduce cash usage across the country.

To realize this vision, users must be equipped with effective tools to prevent digital fraud. This calls for comprehensive education campaigns that promote consumer empowerment, digital literacy, and awareness of online threats such as phishing. 

At the same time, fintech companies across Colombia and Latin America must adopt robust fraud-prevention measures, fraud ring detection systems, and develop strong anti–money laundering programs. These efforts should be complemented by ongoing collaboration between the public and private sectors to ensure early detection and rapid response to emerging threats.

Equally important is a change in approach that encourages companies to share relevant and timely information, helping them to anticipate and effectively manage fraud risks. Security should be treated as a priority so that we could build a digital economy that is sustainable, trustworthy, and inclusive.