Ten minutes before your first proposal save you a week
The first payout is best configured while there is no rush. What to settle, and which of your two CCIs goes in the form.
Read more →Living between two countries
Four fields worth checking before you need them
A first payout from Colombia asks for more details than most people have at hand. Where each one lives, and which one is accepted wrong without warning.
The first time you open the payout form, half the fields answer themselves from memory and the other half do not. You know the account number. The type, maybe. The institution's official name, almost certainly not.
It is a ten-minute task with the statement in front of you, and a lost week if you do it with the payment already on its way.
The four details and where each one lives
| Detail | Where to look | What usually goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Account number | In the app, next to the balance | Little; it is the one everyone has at hand |
| Account type | In the account detail or on the statement | Ticked from memory, and ticked wrong |
| Institution | The official name, not the commercial one | The brand name gets typed and does not match |
| Holder's ID | The ID you opened the product with | A different document of the same person gets used |
The field that is accepted and then bounces
Ticking savings when the account is checking produces no error as you type. The payment goes out, runs the full international leg, and is rejected when it reaches the bank. The breakdown is in the four details of a Colombian destination.
Keys don't work for payments from abroad
Colombia's instant payment system runs on keys, identifiers that are easy to read out and point to your account. They handle collections inside the country well, and they do not replace the account details when the money comes from an international platform.
The name, from day one
When the payment goes out, the beneficiary name is compared with the account holder. A missing second surname or an accent is enough to leave the operation stalled. What happens meanwhile is covered in why an account goes under review.
Two ways to end up in pesos
| Route | Who decides when it converts | What to look at |
|---|---|---|
| The conversion happens before arrival and pesos land in your account | The day the payment crosses that leg | The amount credited at the end, more than the advertised rate |
| The payment arrives in euros to a euro destination in your name and you convert when you choose | You | That the destination accepts euros and the name matches |
At BNKA that step is the swap inside the app and, after it, the withdrawal to your Colombian account. The corridor is in Colombia and the pair in EUR/COP.
Worth stating plainly: BNKA is a technology platform. Financial services are provided by regulated partner institutions, and the terms in force for any given operation live in the app and in the terms and conditions.
What you decide and what you don't
- You decide when you set up payouts, how carefully you verify the four details, and when you convert to pesos if the balance is in euros.
- You don't decide which withdrawal methods the platform enables for your country, or the criteria the destination bank uses to accept or reject.
- We can't tell you this one: the tax and foreign-exchange treatment of income from abroad depends on the Colombian rules in force and on your situation. That gets resolved with your accountant and the official source in front of you.
First payout checklist
- The profile name matches your ID document character for character.
- You checked the account type on the statement, not from memory.
- You entered the institution's official name.
- You checked in your dashboard which withdrawal methods are available to you.
- You know which currency the project pays in and which one will land.
If you are starting out as a freelancer from abroad, the full picture is in the Latino freelancer getting paid in euros, and if you still have nowhere to receive euros, in getting paid in euros without a European bank account.
This is not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice.
Questions on this topic
Where do I find the account type?
On the statement or in the account detail inside the app, not on the main screen. It is the detail worth checking twice, because the form accepts either option without warning and the rejection shows up at the end of the route.
Can I give my key instead of the account?
Not for a payment coming from abroad. The keys used by Colombia's instant payment system are for receiving inside the country without reading out the number. An international platform asks for the full details: number, type, institution, and the holder's ID document.
Can I start working and set up payouts later?
You can, but any correction arrives late. If a detail is wrong when the payment is released, the money travels, gets rejected on arrival, and comes back, and both halves of the route are counted in business days.
Can I get paid into a relative's account?
It is not a practical alternative. The destination has to be in the profile holder's name, with their ID, and a third party's destination usually ends up held or returned. At BNKA we apply the same rule.
Keep reading
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