Beyond Access: Innovation at the Edges

In just over a year, Colombia has changed the way its people move money. Bre-B, the instant payments system built by Colombia’s central bank, Banco de la República, signed up more than 34 million users and over 100 million payment keys in its first six months of operation (Portafolio (opens in a new tab)).

That pace reflects an advantage that comes with building later. Colombia could learn from pioneers such as India’s UPI and Brazil’s Pix, keep what worked, and adapt it to its own market. Bre-B is part of a new wave of national payment infrastructure that starts from proven foundations rather than a blank page.

What comes after access?

The Interledger Foundation supports markets that are driving financial inclusion. In Colombia, the groundwork is foundations are now in place, so the more interesting question is what happens beyond access. How do providers turn access into everyday use, and use into genuine financial agency, through the products and services they build?

Answering that means joining the conversation with the organizations and institutions that laid those foundations, and that are committed to advancing innovation at scale to unlock economic opportunity and growth. It’s also the question at the heart of Beyond Access, an initiative convening the providers, institutions, and communities building what comes next.

Innovation at the Edges in Medellín

Innovation at the Edges was the first Beyond Access event. Held in Medellín, it brought together partners from across the Interledger Foundation ecosystem who are tackling the challenges that remain once access is solved.

FIND | Eafit shared their insights into what drives innovation in the market and the role of academia in growing the knowledge base that everyone can build from. 

This Week in Fintech has spent the past year working with hundreds of product owners, developers, policy specialists and regulators across Colombia and Mexico. They shared first-hand insights into the challenges of interoperability and the solutions people are pushing forward.

Puntored previewed early findings from new research into the relationship between digital payments and cash in Colombia. The work looks at the role of banking correspondents and the value digital wallets bring to people’s daily lives.

Wava, a Colombian fintech and recent recipient of an Interledger Open Payments Accelerator grant, described how it is building a Colombia–Peru payment corridor on open Interledger technology.

miPlata shared its path to becoming a trusted end-to-end payment infrastructure for Latino migrant workers. Its approach covers the whole payment cycle: earning money, sending remittances, and giving families financial management tools that add lasting value. The team also spoke about trust, and why people will always be needed in a world of AI.

The People’s Clearinghouse discussed the challenges and opportunities of connecting community banks. It also gave a sneak preview of its documentary The People’s Code, which has been selected for more than 22 film festivals worldwide.

Interpay by Wallet Guru argued that while the way we pay has changed, the payment models behind everyday essentials have not kept up. It presented a new pay-as-you-use solution for utilities and connectivity.

Fliqa, a European payments company, explained why it plans to expand into Colombia with merchant-to-merchant cross-border payments, drawn by the innovative environment taking shape there.

Rhyza, the next evolution of the digital public good Rafiki, was presented for the first time. It offers an easy way to connect financial infrastructure to Interledger and Open Payments.

Just the beginning

Throughout the day, people from across the ecosystem shared ideas, insights and fresh motivation to build on what Colombia has already achieved. The shared goal is to be part of the next wave of financial innovation, and to make sure that financial inclusion starts with access but doesn’t end there.

Want to get involved? Find out more and pledge your support at BeyondAccess.co (opens in a new tab). This is only the beginning.

Thank you to all our partners who have already supported and signed up to the pledge, including Ruta N, ACI, FIND EAFIT, COMPAS (Centre of Migration, Policy & Society at the University of Oxford),This Week in Fintech, Puntored, Finnosummit, and Platzi.