Alianza Fiduciaria and Pomelo Launch Colombia’s First Fiduciary Prepaid Card for Investment Funds

Alianza Fiduciaria has launched Colombia’s first prepaid card issued by a trust company, enabling investors to spend returns and capital directly from collective investment funds. This partnership with Pomelo signals a significant shift in liquidity management for the Andean wealth sector, bridging the gap between long-term investment vehicles and daily transactional utility.

What was announced

Alianza Fiduciaria, in collaboration with infrastructure provider Pomelo, has introduced a 100% digital prepaid card designed for users of its Collective Investment Funds (FIC). The product marks a milestone in the Colombian financial landscape, as it is the first time a local fiduciary institution has offered a payment tool that allows customers to access their invested capital and yields for immediate use.

The card is managed entirely through the fiduciary’s app or web portal and features no management fees. To ensure security in digital environments, the card utilizes dynamic CVV technology. Furthermore, the solution is fully compatible with mobile wallets, allowing for tokenization within Apple Pay and Google Pay for contactless NFC transactions. The launch was facilitated by Pomelo’s core banking solutions and regional expertise, which provided the necessary operational framework for the rollout.

Key technical components of the launch include:

• BIN Sponsorship: Pomelo provided the licensing and operational management, accelerating the time-to-market for the virtual cards.
• Real-time Payment Processing: An engine that handles the authorization, validation, and settlement of transactions instantly.
• Tokenization Technology: Enabling secure mobile payments through major global digital wallets.
• Digital Onboarding: A streamlined process for existing fund members to activate their spending capabilities without friction.

"Pomelo ha sido un aliado estratégico fundamental en el desarrollo de nuestra tarjeta prepago Alianza. Su tecnología ágil, el acompañamiento cercano y la capacidad de adaptarse a nuestras necesidades como administrador de Fondos de Inversión Colectiva han sido clave."

Luis Fernando Fandiño, Presidente de Alianza Valores.

The companies involved

Alianza Fiduciaria is a prominent financial institution in Colombia, specializing in trust services and the administration of collective investment funds. Closely linked with Alianza Valores, the firm operates within the highly regulated Colombian fiduciary sector, where it has now positioned itself as a pioneer in integrating transactional banking features into traditional investment products.

Pomelo is a financial technology infrastructure provider that enables companies to launch and scale card programs and banking services across Latin America. Operating with a cloud-native, API-first philosophy, Pomelo offers a suite of services including card issuance, processing, and regulatory compliance (BIN sponsorship). The company focuses on reducing the technical and operational barriers for non-traditional financial players—such as fiduciaries and fintechs—to enter the payment space. By providing a regional infrastructure, Pomelo allows its partners to expand their service offerings without the need to build complex payment stacks from scratch. The partnership also involves integration with global payment giants Google Pay and Apple Pay, which provide the mobile wallet infrastructure necessary for the card's NFC capabilities.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed the evolution of digital wallet integration and the expansion of card utility across different sectors. We recently covered how Visa and Apple Pay Launch Tap to Add Card to Reduce Provisioning Fraud by 80%, a development that underscores the industry's push toward the secure tokenization seen in the Alianza launch. Additionally, our reporting on the broader card issuance market includes WasabiCard Launches Global Payroll Solution to Streamline Cross-Border Payments for Distributed Teams and Crypto Goes Mainstream: OKX Card Reports 280% Surge in Everyday Spending Across Europe, both of which highlight the global trend of turning stagnant balances—whether in crypto or corporate accounts—into liquid, spendable assets.

What this means

This move by Alianza Fiduciaria is a direct challenge to traditional retail banks in Colombia. By giving investment fund users a way to spend their returns instantly, Alianza is removing the "liquidity trap" that often discourages retail investors from moving money out of standard savings accounts. For the Colombian market, this sets a new baseline for what a fiduciary must offer to remain competitive. We expect to see other fiduciaries and brokerage firms under immediate pressure to launch similar "spendable investment" products. The success of this rollout will likely hinge on how quickly users adopt mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay in the region, turning investment yields into a primary source of daily spending power.