Until recently, paying a bill at a restaurant was a stressful experience: you didn't have enough cash, the establishment didn't accept digital payments, or you simply forgot your wallet at home. And when digital transfers first appeared, payments between different banks seemed to take forever; they took up to eight business hours, and if the transfer was made on the weekend, the time could be extended to 48 hours.
To solve this, Colombia began to implement institutional strategies that promoted a fast and secure instant payment ecosystem. But before that, Redeban and Pragma took a proactive approach that is now considered a model to follow.
In 2023, the Central Bank of Colombia announced a new immediate payment system (SPI, in Spanish) that promised to revolutionize transfers in Colombia by 2025. This new instant payment system promised to enable long-awaited banking interoperability, speeding up everyday transfers and offering benefits such as zero transaction costs and strengthening financial inclusion for the unbanked through fintechs or solutions such as digital wallets.
Most of the financial sector prepared to adapt. Redeban, the country's leading electronic payment processor, decided not to wait. Instead of reacting, they chose to lead. They asked themselves: why wait for the future if we could start building it today? This is how "Mis Llaves" was born as a project that, in alliance with Pragma, not only anticipated the norm but redefined collaboration in the Colombian financial ecosystem.
How “Mis Llaves” was born and how it reached real banking interoperability?
Redeban was already a giant, processing more than half of the country's electronic transactions. However, their vision was to democratize financial services and build the country through innovation.
The announcement of the SPI with the Bre-B seal represented a crossroads. They could wait for the rules of the game, or they could create a market dynamic that facilitated its adoption. The challenge was about uniting competitors for a common good and accustoming millions of users to a new way of interacting with their money.
Thus, in January 2025, long before the regulatory deadline, they launched "Mis Llaves." They did it hand-in-hand with the country's largest financial players: Bancolombia, Davivienda, Daviplata, and Nequi (which together represent 80% of the market), developing an entire ecosystem of banking interoperability that became a tangible reality for Colombians.
Redeban and Pragma partnership: this is an architecture designed for speed and trust
Something was clear: the solution had to be robust, scalable, and, above all, incredibly fast. At Pragma, we understood that architecture wasn’t an end but the means to generate trust.
We built a 100% native AWS cloud solution utilizing a serverless architecture, which allowed us agility and efficiency. The heart of the system is a service orchestrator that validates each transaction in real time.
- The brain behind it: We used services like AWS Glue to create a dynamic metadata catalog. Imagine it as a smart, always-updated phone directory that knows exactly who each "llave" (cell phone number or email) belongs to, to direct money without errors.
- Serverless speed: With tools like API Gateway, Lambdas, and EventBridge, we created a workflow that activates instantly with each request. There are no idle servers waiting; the infrastructure responds on demand, guaranteeing response times of less than twenty seconds.
- Security in the DNA: Trust is everything. That's why we integrated a real-time anti-fraud engine and used Amazon Cognito to manage identities, ensuring that every penny reaches its destination securely.
This architecture met the technical requirements and was designed to support massive growth from day one, guaranteeing 99.99% availability.
Best results that “Mis Llaves” has given
"Mis Llaves" went into production in January 2025, and the impact was immediate and resounding. The numbers not only exceeded expectations but showed that the market was more than ready for this change:
- In less than a month, 10 million people registered, a record adoption that demonstrated the latent need for such a solution.
- During the first quarter, 23 million keys were registered, almost two per user, evidencing a deep appropriation of the functionality.
- More than 31 million transactions were processed, including transfers and inquiries, consolidating the platform as a robust, high-traffic system.
99.9% reduction in transaction processing time, meaning that transfers now occur 8,600 times faster, regardless of the bank.
Stability was impeccable, but the greatest achievement was human. Millions of Colombians began to familiarize themselves with the dynamics of immediate payments, eliminating friction in their daily lives and generating real financial inclusion.
How does “Mis Llaves” impact Colombian society?
Redeban and Pragma's proactivity in developing this solution not only made them pioneers in instant payments in Colombia, but also catapulted social, economic, and legal advances within the Colombian market.
- Real financial inclusion: People without access to financial services due to their credit history or ability to pay and/or indebtedness can now receive money instantly, which is especially useful for informal vendors, and families in rural areas.
- Greater efficiency for businesses and individuals: Instant payments remove banking delays and allow for better financial planning, benefiting both companies and consumers.
- Formalization of the economy: More than 3 million businesses are registered in Redeban’s interoperable QR system, facilitating their transition to formality and boosting their digitalization.
- Reduction in cash usage: By being digital, widespread, and secure, these payments promote a more efficient economy that is less dependent on cash.
- Competition and innovation: The unified instant payments ecosystem will drive improvements in user experience, lower costs, and the arrival of new fintech services.
Our lesson: The future is built, not waited for
"Mis Llaves" is proof that vision and proactivity can transform an industry. Through “Mis Llaves”, Redeban and Pragma educated the market, fostered collaboration, and positioned themselves as true innovators.
This project reminds us that true transformation consists in understanding the human needs and using technology to build bridges and improve people's lives.
