Nequi
Nequi is Colombia's biggest digital wallet and neobank, backed by Grupo Cibest.
On the record
Checkpoint: Nequi's legal separation from Cibest concludes, with first standalone financials
The call
Nequi still leads Colombia's wallet race, but a well-funded DaviPlata and an unresolved separation from Cibest make the next few quarters the real test.
Nequi is a digital wallet and payment app with about 25 million users in Colombia, letting people without regular bank accounts send money, pay bills, and get small loans. It has real advantages: a banking license, a network of physical locations to deposit and withdraw cash through Bancolombia, and information about how underbanked customers repay loans. But these advantages are under attack from DaviPlata, which Davivienda bank backs and which now has 19 million users, plus Ualá and Revolut, which are well-funded startups entering Colombia's market with billions of dollars to spend. The one thing that could shake this up is what happens over the next few years as Nequi separates from its parent company Cibest: if that parent company stops putting money into Nequi or if the rivals' enormous budgets let them outspend Nequi on customer growth, Nequi's lead could shrink fast.
Why
01
AI pressure: MOVii's agentic payments push and generic AI underwriting/support tools. AI can automate support, fraud checks, and micro-loan scoring, but it cannot hold a banking license or take deposits like Nequi does. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: DaviPlata (Davivienda-backed, ~19M users, formalized as full neobank Oct 2025). DaviPlata just became a full neobank with 19M users and bank backing, closing the gap on Nequi's 24-27M user lead. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. Bancolombia's cash agent network and Nequi's banking license give it reach and legal status rivals still lack.
What would change this call
DaviPlata reports active users or deposits surpassing or closing on Nequi for two straight quarters. Would show Nequi's leader position eroding to a bank-backed rival.
Nequi's Q3-Q4 2026 legal separation from Cibest concludes with its equity/funding terms disclosed. Would show whether Nequi keeps strong capital backing or is weakened by the split.
Nequi's Q3 2026 standalone financials show sustained profit or a slide back to losses. Would show whether Nequi can survive as an independent, profitable entity.
Nequi's Q3-Q4 2026 legal separation from Cibest concludes with its equity/funding terms disclosed. Would show whether Nequi keeps strong capital backing or is weakened by the split.
Nequi's Q3 2026 standalone financials show sustained profit or a slide back to losses. Would show whether Nequi can survive as an independent, profitable entity.
Key numbers
- 24-27M registered users
- $7M net income Q1 2026
- DaviPlata at ~19M users post Oct 2025
Named risks
- Unresolved legal separation from Cibest could produce a worse equity/financial structure for Nequi.
- Well-funded rivals like Ualá and Revolut expanding aggressively into Colombia.
- Internal inconsistencies in reported user counts, capital injections, and profitability timeline reduce evidence reliability.
- DaviPlata's formal neobank status and 19M users narrowing Nequi's lead.
- AI-driven compression of support, KYC, and fraud workflows could erode margin advantages even without displacing core banking function.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DaviPlata | contesting | Formalized as full neobank with ~19M users by October 2025, closing gap on Nequi's 24-27M |
| Ualá | gaining on | Closed $197M round at $3.2B valuation including Tether backing, announced July 16, 2026 |
| Revolut | gaining on | Entered Colombia October 2024 with $45B global valuation and 60M+ customers |
| MOVii | contesting | CEO publicly pushing agentic payments strategy at May 18, 2026 fintech event |
| Lulo Bank | contesting | Gilinski-backed, ~650,000 customers growing 20,000/month as of Sept 2025 |
Questions people ask
- Is Nequi profitable in 2026?
- Yes, per Grupo Cibest's Q1 2026 earnings call, Nequi posted about $7M net income in Q1 2026, with full-year 2026 net income guided at approximately $30M, though deposit and profitability figures have shown some inconsistency across quarters, as of May 6, 2026.
- Who owns Nequi?
- Nequi is owned by Grupo Cibest (formerly Grupo Bancolombia), Colombia's largest financial conglomerate, whose parent trades as Bancolombia S.A. on NYSE. As of mid 2026, Cibest is working to make Nequi legally independent while keeping it financially consolidated, targeted for completion Q3 to Q4 2026.
- How many users does Nequi have?
- Nequi reports between 24 million and 27 million registered users as of 2026, making it Colombia's largest digital wallet. MarketWatch cited over 26 million users as of January 13, 2026, though estimates vary by source and date.
- Could AI replace Nequi?
- Unlikely to replace its core function. Nequi holds a banking license and Bancolombia's physical cash agent network, both regulatory and infrastructure moats AI cannot assume. AI mainly threatens peripheral workflows like support, KYC, and fraud detection, not deposit holding itself.
- Who is Nequi's biggest competitor?
- DaviPlata, backed by Davivienda, is Nequi's closest rival with about 19 million users and formal neobank status since October 2025. Other challengers include Ualá (valued at $3.2B as of July 16, 2026) and Revolut, which entered Colombia in October 2024.
- Did Nequi split from Bancolombia?
- Sources describe two separate events: an earlier reported operational split around December 2021, and a distinct, still-ongoing formal legal separation from Grupo Cibest that CEO Juan Carlos Mora said would conclude between Q3 and Q4 2026, per La República, June 6, 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-06-30Grupo Cibest closes $1.418bn sale of Panama unit Banistmo, part of capital redeployment
- 2026-05-17MOVii CEO discusses agentic payments as competitive AI strategy at LatAm fintech event
- 2026-05-06Cibest Q1 2026 earnings call: Nequi ~$7M net income, COP 6.8T deposits, FY guide ~$30M
- 2026-03Nequi announces Wenia partnership for digital dollar/crypto access
- 2026-02CEO Juan Carlos Mora says Nequi separation from Cibest targeted for Q3-Q4 2026
- 2026-01-13Nequi partners with Viamericas to expand remittance payment network
- 2025-10DaviPlata formalized as full neobank, reaching about 19 million users
- 2025-03-07Nequi partners with Payoneer for USD/EUR cross-border payments
- 2024-10Revolut announces entry into Colombian market
- 2016Nequi publicly launches after incubation as Grupo Bancolombia intrapreneurship project
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Viamericas Expands Payment Network to Nequi (2026-01-13)
- A digital wallet that has evolved into a neobank…
- Nequi Capital, NIM Guidance, and Buyback Plans Don't Match (2026-05-06)
- Últimas noticias económicas de Nequi (2026-06-06)
- Cibest Closes $1.4bn Panama Bank Exit (2026-07-21)
- Colombian Banks Profit Jumps 44% (2026-07-18)
- Tether invests $20M in Ualá (2026-07-16)
- Fintech Forward (2025-09-17)
- MOVii, Products, Competitors (2026-05-17)
- Employee Count & Headcount Data (2026-06-29)
- ¿Cómo trabajar con el neobanco Nequi? (2022-04-12)
- Nequi and Payoneer partner to simplify cross-border payments (2025-03-07)