Money advice for Colombia online is a mess. Half of it is outdated. Most of it is written by people who visited once. And nearly none of it names the actual trap that gets tourists the moment they land.

I live here. I deal with the Colombian banking system weekly. This is the short, practical version.

The Euronet trap

Walk through El Dorado airport in Bogotá, Rionegro outside Medellín, or any mall in the country, and you'll see yellow ATMs branded Euronet. They're everywhere. They exist almost entirely to extract money from tourists who don't know better.

The scam

Euronet ATMs offer to convert your withdrawal to your home currency "for your convenience." The rate they offer is roughly 20 to 28 percent worse than the real interbank rate. That's before their withdrawal fee, which is also higher than local banks.

Always, always decline currency conversion. Always choose to be charged in Colombian pesos. Your home bank will convert at a far better rate, usually within 1 percent of the real rate if you're using a decent card.

And ideally: don't use Euronet at all. Use a Colombian bank's ATM.

Which ATMs to actually use

Stick to the four big Colombian banks. Their ATMs are in malls, branches, and often inside Éxito grocery stores.

Bancolombia
Biggest network, highest limits, real rates. Inside any Éxito supermarket.
Use
Davivienda
Red branding, everywhere, reliable. Good backup if Bancolombia is out of cash.
Use
BBVA Colombia
Smaller network but decent. European bank, fewer tourist-targeted surprises.
Use
Banco de Bogotá
Orange branding. Works fine. Sometimes lower daily withdrawal limits.
Fine
Euronet (yellow)
The conversion trap. Even if you decline conversion, higher fees. Never.
Avoid

Withdraw inside or right next to a bank branch during business hours. This is the single most important safety rule for money here. Never pull large amounts from a street-facing ATM at night.

Cards that actually work

A working card in Colombia has three properties: no foreign transaction fee, a real exchange rate close to the interbank rate, and acceptance by Colombian payment terminals (which are Visa and Mastercard everywhere; American Express is often rejected outside major chains).

For Canadians

For Americans

For Europeans / everyone else

Why you still need cash

Colombia is cash-friendly in a way Canada and most of Europe haven't been for years. Some things simply don't take card:

Pull 300,000 to 500,000 COP (roughly $75 to $125 USD) when you land. That covers a few days comfortably without making you a target for carrying too much.

Tipping: the real rules

Restaurants in tourist zones often add a 10% propina voluntaria (voluntary tip) to the bill. This is legally optional. You can decline it if service was genuinely bad. Most travelers just accept it because 10% is fair.

Outside tourist zones, tipping is less common and smaller. Leave your loose coins and small bills. For taxis and Uber, rounding up is enough. For tour guides, 20,000 to 50,000 COP is appreciated for a good half-day tour, more for full-day or private.

You don't tip the person bagging your groceries at the supermarket, but you will see them carrying a little tip cup. A couple of thousand pesos is fine if you want to.

Nequi and Daviplata: the local apps

Nearly every Colombian uses Nequi (Bancolombia) or Daviplata (Davivienda) to send money instantly between phone numbers. They're the Colombian Venmo/Interac combined. Most small businesses accept them.

The catch: both require a Colombian ID number (cédula) to sign up. As a tourist, you can't easily open an account. If you're staying for months and have a cédula de extranjería, do it immediately, it simplifies your life enormously.

For a 2-week trip, skip it. Stick to cash and your foreign card.

The haggling question

In markets: yes, a little. Start at 70 to 80 percent of the asking price, settle in the middle. Smile. Nothing is personal. If you walk away and they don't chase, the price was already fair.

In stores, restaurants, and on fixed prices: no. The price is the price. Trying to negotiate the menu price marks you as confused rather than savvy.

For tours booked in advance through hotels or hostels, there's often room. For tours booked directly with small operators, less. Know the baseline price before you ask. A Comuna 13 tour should cost around 60,000 to 100,000 COP per person depending on length and what's included. Guatapé day trips run 120,000 to 180,000 COP.

The 7-day cash plan

Day 1: pull 500,000 COP from a Bancolombia ATM inside a mall. Day 3: top up with another 300,000. Refresh as needed. Keep big bills separate from day-to-day spending money.

Keep a stash of 100,000 or 200,000 COP locked in your accommodation as emergency backup. Carry only what you need for the day. If you're hitting up nightlife, bring a small amount and leave your card at home, use cash for everything. Pickpockets and occasional street theft are real; catastrophic card loss is more of a headache than whatever cash you drop.

The one thing you'll forget

Notify your bank before you fly.

Even with a zero-FX card, the first foreign transaction in Colombia occasionally triggers a fraud flag. Wealthsimple, Schwab, Scotiabank, whoever you're using, call them or set a travel notice in the app. Do this the night before. Takes 2 minutes. Saves you from a frozen card on day one.

What planning with me looks like

If you want a custom trip plan that includes your money setup, local payment apps to know about, and a cash-flow plan for each city, that's what I build. Free 20 minutes to see if we're a fit.