How to Save in Dollars From Colombia: 2026 Comparison Guide

On October 6, 2026, the TRM (Colombia's official USD/COP reference rate) stood at COP 3,209.78, down COP 63.71 from the rate in effect the previous weekend (COP 3,273.49). A week earlier, on September 29, it was COP 3,349.63. That kind of back-and-forth, rather than a one-way trend, is the real reason more and more Colombians are looking to move part of their savings out of the peso.

The question is no longer so much "should I save in dollars?" but "with which of today's options, and at what cost?" This guide compares five real paths: VIIO, Littio, Global66, Wise, and traditional banking through accounts in Panama.

Editorial note: VIIO is one of the providers compared below. Every figure comes from each provider's own published terms and help-center pages, so you can verify it independently before deciding.

The essentials, at a glance

In short: only Global66, Littio (through a separate savings product), and Bancolombia publish or advertise a yield on dollar balances; VIIO, Wise, and BBVA do not. Global66 advertises up to 6% effective annual (E.A.) on its base account and 8% E.A. in dollars in its separate "Vaults"; Bancolombia publishes 0.30%–0.40% E.A. by balance tier; Littio's rate changes often and must be confirmed in the app. VIIO and Wise trade yield for a balance that stays available to spend, transfer, or withdraw.

VIIO

Attribute	Value
Minimum opening amount	No published minimum
Maintenance fee	None
Yield on balance	Not currently offered
Withdrawal to a bank account	Currently no VIIO fee, in COP, USD, MXN, CAD, EUR, GBP, or AUD
Currency conversion	You see the final rate before confirming; fees at viio.me/es/tasasytarifas
What you hold in your balance	Digital assets such as USDC or USDT, which track the US dollar; they are not bank deposits in dollars
Direct use of your balance	Yes, with the VIIO Visa card, physical or virtual, without converting to pesos

 

Littio — base account

Attribute	Value
Minimum opening amount	No minimum to open the account
Maintenance fee	None
Withdrawal/conversion to pesos	1:1 among USD/EUR/COP/MXN, 2% on other currencies
Direct use of your balance	Yes, with the Littio Card

 

Littio — optional savings product ("Pots"/"Vaults" — not the same as the base balance)

Attribute	Value
Yield on balance	Littio has published different rates over time and states in its own help center that figures mentioned in earlier publications may have changed. Confirm the current rate directly in the app before opening the product
Stated backing	US Treasury bonds through a third-party liquidity provider

 

Global66 (Cuenta Global) — base account

Attribute	Value
Minimum opening amount	No minimum to open the account
Maintenance fee	None
Yield on balance	Up to 6% E.A. in dollars, per Global66 Colombia's official page
Withdrawal/conversion to pesos	See Global66's current fee schedule

 

Global66 — separate yield product ("Vaults," launched April 2026)

Attribute	Value
Yield on balance	8% E.A. in dollars and 11% E.A. in Colombian pesos, per Global66 Colombia's official page for this product
What Vaults are	Separate spaces inside the account (up to 3 per user), each with its own name and purpose, in COP, USD, or EUR. They add security: PIN, two-factor authentication, and a 48-hour wait for withdrawals above USD 1,000 per day
Yield cap	Maximum USD 2,000 in interest paid per user per month, confirmed in the official help center for Colombian customers
Condition to earn interest	Accrued monthly interest must exceed the equivalent of USD 0.1

 

Wise

Attribute	Value
Minimum opening amount	No minimum
Maintenance fee	None
Yield on balance	Not available to Colombian residents (the "Interest" feature only applies in the EEA, UK, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, and the US)
Withdrawal/conversion to pesos	Mid-market exchange rate, transparent fee
Physical card	Not currently available to Colombian residents

 

Traditional banking (Bancolombia and BBVA, Panama branches)

Attribute	Value
Minimum opening amount	Bancolombia: no minimum for the personal account, confirmed on its current official page ("Open it easily online from USD 0"). The USD 5,000 figure cited earlier belongs to the business account, a different product, not the personal account compared here. BBVA: USD 1,000, per BBVA Colombia's official information on the account offered through BBVA Panama Branch
Maintenance fee	Bancolombia: no maintenance fee was found for the personal account on its current official page; the USD 25 figure cited earlier belonged to the business account and has been removed from this comparison. BBVA: the official product page states "no maintenance fee"; the official Individual (Persona Natural) fee schedule does list separate charges in specific cases: USD 10/month if the balance falls below the minimum average, USD 10 for 6 months of inactivity, and USD 50 for closing before 6 months
Yield on balance	Bancolombia: publishes a current rate on the personal account's official page — 0.30% E.A. for balances between USD 5,000 and USD 100,000, 0.35% between USD 100,000 and USD 1,000,000, and 0.40% between USD 1,000,000 and USD 20,000,000. BBVA: no current percentage rate was found on its official page or fee schedule; confirm directly with the bank before opening the account
Account opening	100% digital from the bank's app in Colombia, no travel required
Additional BBVA requirement	If you are not yet a BBVA Colombia customer, you must first enroll with the bank and then open the dollar account
Deposit protection	BBVA Panama Branch products explicitly state they are not covered by FOGAFIN or deposit insurance

Why none of these options is automatically "the best"

Each one solves a different problem. A bank with a Panama branch gives you a traditional bank account, with the strength of a regulated institution, but requires you to be a customer or enroll first, plus each bank's opening amounts. Littio and Global66 require no minimum for their base account, and both also offer a separate, optional yield product that is not the same as simply keeping a balance in the account: Littio through a savings product ("Pots"/"Vaults") backed by assets managed by a third party, Global66 as direct remuneration on the balance, subject to specific conditions.

VIIO and Wise do not offer yield on your balance in Colombia. What they offer instead is a balance available to use, transfer, or withdraw, with a low cost of entry: you don't have to keep the money locked up or meet a minimum balance to avoid fees.

VIIO: no yield, with your balance available to use, transfer, or withdraw

VIIO does not pay yield on your balance. What it does offer is holding it with no maintenance fee and no minimum opening amount, and using it directly with the VIIO Visa card, physical or virtual, at merchants on the Visa network, without converting to pesos first. Withdrawals to bank accounts in Colombian pesos, US dollars, euros, pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, or Mexican pesos currently carry no VIIO fee. If you convert between currencies, you see the final rate before confirming the transaction.

Your VIIO balance is not a bank deposit in dollars: it consists of digital assets such as USDC or USDT, which track the US dollar. VIIO acts as an execution agent, meaning it moves your digital assets only on your instructions. Your digital assets are yours and are kept separate from VIIO's own money.

Best suited to: people who prioritize having their balance available to spend right away over earning yield, or who already spend in dollars often (subscriptions, international purchases, travel) and want to avoid converting the same money twice.

Littio: a no-cost base account, plus a separate savings product

Littio's base account has no minimum opening amount and no maintenance fee, and lets you withdraw or convert 1:1 among USD, EUR, COP, and MXN (2% on other currencies). Separately from that account, Littio offers a distinct savings product inside the app (known as "Pots" or "Vaults") that pays a reward on the balance held for a set term; this is not the same as the regular account balance. Littio has published different rates for this product over time, and its own help center warns that figures mentioned in earlier publications may have changed, even between recent revisions of the same article. For that reason we do not include a specific rate here: the current figure must be confirmed directly in the app before making any decision.

Littio states that these rewards come from investing the funds in US Treasury bonds through a third-party liquidity management provider, not from Littio directly. Littio is not an entity supervised by Colombia's Financial Superintendence (Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia).

Best suited to: people looking for the possibility of a yield on their digital dollars who are willing to verify the current rate directly in the app before committing the money.

Global66: a no-cost base account, plus "Vaults" as a separate yield product

Global66's base account has no minimum opening amount and no maintenance fee, and pays up to 6% E.A. in dollars, per Global66 Colombia's official page. In addition to that account, Global66 launched "Vaults" in April 2026: separate spaces inside the account (up to 3 per user) designed to organize money by goal, with added security (PIN, two-factor authentication, a 48-hour wait on withdrawals above USD 1,000 per day) and their own yield: 8% E.A. in dollars and 11% E.A. in Colombian pesos, per that same official page.

Best suited to: people who want to organize their savings by specific goal, with an extra layer of protection against unauthorized withdrawals, and who are attracted by this product's 8% rate in dollars (or 11% in pesos) versus the base account's 6%.

Wise: no yield in Colombia, but the most flexible multi-currency account

Wise lets you open a balance in dollars (and in more than 40 currencies) with no opening or maintenance cost, with US bank account details so anyone can transfer you money as if you had an account there. However, the yield feature ("Interest") that Wise offers in other countries is not available to Colombian residents; the official list of eligible countries includes the European Economic Area, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, and the United States. Wise also does not currently offer a physical multi-currency card to Colombian residents.

Best suited to: people whose priority is flexibility to manage multiple currencies and international transfers, not yield on savings.

Traditional banking: more demanding, more regulated, less transparent yield

Bancolombia and BBVA let you open a dollar account at their Panama branches directly from the app in Colombia, without traveling, using only your Colombian citizenship ID (cédula de ciudadanía).

Bancolombia does not require a minimum opening amount for its personal dollar savings account, confirmed on its current official page ("Open it easily online from USD 0"); no maintenance fee for this account was found in official sources either. (The USD 5,000 amount and USD 25 fee often cited correspond to the business account, a different product.) The personal account's official page does publish a current rate by balance tier: 0.30% E.A. from USD 5,000, 0.35% from USD 100,000, and 0.40% from USD 1,000,000, with interest accrued daily. At BBVA Panama Branch, if you are not yet a BBVA Colombia customer, you must first enroll with the bank and then open the dollar account; its official product page states the account has no maintenance fee, although its official Individual fee schedule does list charges in specific cases (USD 10 for a balance below the minimum, USD 10 for 6 months with no activity, USD 50 for closing before 6 months). No official BBVA source currently publishes a percentage yield rate; it must be confirmed directly with the bank. BBVA also explicitly states that its Panama products are not covered by FOGAFIN or deposit insurance.

Best suited to: people who prefer the backing of a traditional, regulated banking institution and can meet the amounts and enrollment requirements each bank demands.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a US bank account to keep money in dollars from Colombia? No. VIIO, Littio, Global66, and Wise let you hold your balance in dollars, or in digital assets that track the dollar, without a bank account abroad. Only traditional bank accounts in Panama require enrolling with a bank that has a presence there, although the process is done from Colombia.

Which of these options pays the most yield? It depends on whether you compare the base balance or a separate savings product (see the tables above for full detail). In short: Global66 pays up to 6% E.A. on its base account and up to 8% in dollars (11% in pesos) in its Vaults product; Bancolombia publishes an official but lower rate, between 0.30% and 0.40% E.A. depending on balance; Littio's rate changes frequently and must be confirmed in the app; and VIIO, Wise, and BBVA do not currently offer a published yield in Colombia.

Is it safer to keep your money in a traditional bank than on a digital platform? They are different models. Banks operate under standard banking regulation, although BBVA clarifies that its Panama products have no FOGAFIN protection. Among digital platforms, the framework varies by entity: Global66 operates as a SEDPE (a Colombian licensed electronic deposit and payment company), supervised by the Financial Superintendence, with deposits covered by Fogafin up to COP 50,000,000; Littio is not regulated by the Financial Superintendence, reports to the DIAN (Colombia's tax authority), and falls under the Superintendence of Companies (Superintendencia de Sociedades). VIIO is not a bank and does not provide regulated financial services in Colombia, and it is not supervised by Colombia's Financial Superintendence. Persimon S.A.S. is a Colombian company under the oversight of the Superintendence of Companies. Your funds at VIIO are not covered by FOGAFÍN deposit insurance, because that insurance does not apply to digital assets.

Can I spend my balance directly, without converting it to pesos first? Yes, with VIIO and Littio: VIIO with the VIIO Visa card and Littio with its Mastercard, both for spending your balance directly. Wise lets you spend abroad but does not yet have a physical card for Colombian residents. A traditional account in Panama usually requires transferring funds or using the card tied to that account.

Team note: this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, foreign-exchange, or tax advice. The yield rates shown, especially Littio's, change frequently, and some bank figures are not published consistently; confirm current values directly with each platform or bank before deciding. Foreign-exchange and reporting obligations to the Banco de la República (Colombia's central bank) and the DIAN for holding accounts or assets abroad vary by case; consult your accountant.

Sources

• VIIO fees
• Littio — How do your rewards of up to 12% E.A. work? (includes a notice that the rate may have changed)
• Littio — Is Littio safe to use? (Help Center, regulatory status)
• Global66 — Yields on Your Global Account (Help Center, updated Feb. 2, 2026)
• Global66 — Interest-bearing USD account
• Global66 — Interest-bearing accounts at Global66 (Help Center)
• Global66 — Cuenta Global Colombia (official page: 6% E.A. base account, 8% E.A. and 11% E.A. in Vaults)
• Global66 — How does the SEDPE work at Global66? (Help Center)
• La República — Global66 launches "vaults" to shield your money and strengthen digital security
• Revista C-Level — Global66 launches digital vaults to protect money (Colombia, 6% E.A. in dollars confirmed)
• Wise — Who can use Interest and Stocks
• Wise — Where can I open a Wise balance?
• Bancolombia Panama — Dollar Savings Account for Individuals (rates by balance tier)
• Bancolombia Panama — Products and Fees Table, effective January 2026 (official PDF)
• Bancolombia — How to open a dollar account
• BBVA Panama — Dollar Savings Account
• BBVA Panama — Applicable Fees, Individuals (official PDF)
• BBVA Colombia — Dollar account from Colombia
• Littio — Help Center, How does Littio Pro work?
• Financial Superintendence, via datos.gov.co — Representative Market Exchange Rate (TRM)
• Banco de la República — TRM definition