Colombia’s CDT market is offering savers some of the best fixed-income returns of the year, with several banks and finance companies still paying more than 13% effective annual rates on longer maturities even as the central bank eases policy.
Colombia CDT rates stay above 13% at top banks
That matters because CDs, or Certificados de Depósito a Término, have become one of the simplest ways for households to protect cash from inflation while locking in a known return. For investors, the key question is no longer whether deposits pay something — it is which institutions are still offering enough yield to justify tying up money for 12 to 18 months.
Sentiment Indicators
The standout rates are concentrated in medium and long tenors. Corficolombiana leads the pack at 14.25% effective annual rate, followed by KOA at 13.51% for 18 months and around 12.9% to 13.0% at one year. Banco de Occidente offers 13.45%, Mibanco 13.42%, Coltefinanciera 13.10% and Pibank also sits above 13.00%, according to the market snapshot.
Shorter terms are still competitive, but the yield step-up is clear. At three months, KOA offers 11.20% from a minimum of 250,000 pesos, ahead of Ban100 at 10.8%, Mibanco at 10.7% from 100,000 pesos, IRIS at 10.40% and Nu Colombia at 9.70%. On a 2 million peso deposit over 90 days, the difference is meaningful: roughly 53,284 pesos at KOA versus 46,085 pesos at Nu Colombia.
The six- and nine-month buckets remain strong as well. Credifamilia and KOA both offer 12.15% effective annual rates at six months, while Ban100 is at 11.6%. At nine months, Credifamilia rises to 12.3%, Ban100 to 12.1% and IRIS to 11.8%. For one-year money, KOA, IRIS and Credifamilia cluster near the top of the market in the 12.5% to 12.8% range.
The larger economic story is that deposit rates are still elevated even after the Banco de la República has cut its policy rate. That tells you banks are still competing for funding in a market where inflation has eroded purchasing power and households want a safe place to park cash. Lower policy rates usually pull deposit yields down over time, but the persistence of double-digit CDT offers suggests lenders are still defending liquidity and trying to attract term funding.
For savers, that is both an opportunity and a warning. The opportunity is obvious: locking in a high nominal return can make sense for money that will not be needed soon. The warning is that these are pre-tax estimates, and real-world returns depend on the institution’s strength, deposit insurance coverage through Fogafín and whether the bank is supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia.
The long-term lesson for investors is simple: in a falling-rate environment, the best CDT rates tend to disappear first. If you are looking at these products, the strongest case is for money you can afford to leave untouched for at least a year, and preferably as part of a broader, diversified plan rather than a bet on one rate quote. For conservative savers, the current market is still worth watching — but it may not stay this generous for long.
| Entity | Gains | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Savers with idle cash | ▲Higher locked-in yields | ▼Liquidity for the term |
| Banks offering 13%+ CDs | ▲Funding inflows | ▼Funding costs |
| Short-term deposit holders | ▲Flexible access | ▼Lower top-end rates |
| Inflation | ▲Less impact on nominal returns | ▼Savers seeking real yield |
