Digital Financial Entities Facilitate Financial Inclusion in Colombia, Says Inmark Study

Inmark, a leading market research and trends analysis company, has released the results of its latest study on the Financial Behavior of Individuals in Colombia for 2023. This year, the findings have been adjusted to reflect the current reality of the financial ecosystem in the country, with a focus on the impact of digital-only entities such as digital wallets and neobanks.

Impact of Digital-Only Entities

The study highlights the role of these digital entities in facilitating financial inclusion for Colombians. Although the majority of Colombians (53.9%) still remain exclusive clients of traditional banks, 13.9% of banked individuals in Colombia now solely operate with digital entities, mainly digital wallets. Additionally, 32.2% use products and services from both traditional banks and digital entities.

Market Leaders: Nequi and Daviplata

Digital entities have also gained market share, displacing some banks that held relevant positions in previous measurements. According to the collected information, 51.8% of the respondents mentioned they are users of Bancolombia, followed by 37.2% of Nequi, 22.5% of Davivienda, and 17.6% of Daviplata. The next neobank on the list is Nubank, with a 1.7% user base, preceded by at least nine traditional banks.

The presence of digital entities increases the financial dynamism index by generating new customer relationships, implying an expansion in the use of products and services involving more entities.

Preferred Channels for Financial Transactions

As for the channels customers use to interact with their financial entities, ATMs remain the primary channel for withdrawing money, making inquiries, or other operations, with a 78.9% usage rate. This is followed by online banking, which has achieved a penetration of 72.2%, both in app and web forms. The introduction of digital wallets has also increased the use of a previously less frequent channel - bank correspondents (44.8%) - as a significant starting point for the use of digital wallets as cash receivers.

The study was conducted during the second half of 2023, applying 2,503 personal and household interviews to banked individuals over 18 years old and belonging to strata 3 to 6, residing in sixteen Colombian cities, including Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla.