How to save without a debit card: Colombia and Mexico

1. 1. Inside an account or wallet, with sub-accounts, pockets or piggy banks: the money is kept apart from what you spend, but it is still that institution's balance.
2. 2. Outside any account, with an app that keeps your savings goals without moving money: you decide how much to set aside each month and the app shows you how much you have.

Both work, and they can be combined. The first depends on the institution; the second, only on your discipline.

Nequi. According to its official website, it offers three ways to set money aside inside the app: Pockets (Bolsillos, up to 10), Goals (Metas), with a name, a date and automatic deduction, and Cushion (Colchón), with a time limit or with the permission of someone you trust. They are sub-spaces of the same balance. The Nequi Visa card is a separate product: it is not required to save.

DaviPlata. It is a Davivienda low-amount deposit activated with an ID and a phone, with no maintenance fee. It allows up to 10 pockets at no cost. Each page of the app gives a different rate (up to 8, 9 or 10% effective annual depending on the page), so we do not quote any: check the current conditions.

dale! It is an app of Aval Soluciones Digitales, a SEDPE supervised by the Superfinanciera and protected by Fogafín deposit insurance, according to its website. It has piggy banks, and the digital debit card is optional.

Cooperatives. According to Fogacoop, the insurance covers up to COP 50,000,000 per person in registered cooperatives, and does not cover members' capital contributions. Check that the cooperative is on its list of registered institutions.

The insurance. According to Fogafín, deposit insurance covers low-amount deposits up to COP 50 million per person and registered institution, at no cost and automatically. It is what covers registered institutions such as Nequi or dale!.

Is the card needed? Only in one case. In level 1 accounts, withdrawals are made exclusively with a debit card (article 15 of Banxico Circular 3/2012). From level 2 on, transfers and other means can be used. The apps below are opened from your phone; on their websites we could not confirm whether they ask for a debit card to open the account.

Apps with sub-accounts. Mercado Pago has "Apartados" and Nu México has "Cajitas". Nu has been a bank since 6 August 2026 and its blog says that the debit account and the Cajitas are protected by the IPAB up to 400,000 UDIS. Klar and Stori are SOFIPOs; Spin by OXXO is an electronic payment fund institution and its website says that not even the Federal Government guarantees customers' funds. We do not quote the rates they advertise: they contradict each other even within a single website.

What protects each thing, according to CONDUSEF and the IPAB:

CETES Directo. It requires a bank account in your name (with a CLABE) to operate, so it is not a way to save without an account.

According to the 2024 ENIF survey (INEGI and CNBV), 33.6% of Mexican adults have no savings at all, 36.6% save only informally and 21.6% use formal and informal means at once. The CNBV cites keeping money at home, taking part in tandas and using savings groups among the informal ways.

In Colombia, the Superfinanciera's 2025 Financial Inclusion Report says that 83.9% of adults have a savings account and 76.9% a low-amount deposit account, which explains why wallets such as Nequi or DaviPlata are so common for saving.

Neto is our app, so take that with a pinch of salt. To save without a card, all you need is a savings goal: you enter the amount and the deadline, and each month you mark what you set aside. You see how much you have and how much is left, without connecting your account and without Neto touching your money. It works with Colombian and Mexican pesos, and you can have a "Nequi" or "Mercado Pago" account to know how much is in each. It is free to start.

1. 1. Look up the legal name of the institution (bank, SEDPE, SOFIPO, electronic payment institution, cooperative).
2. 2. Check the insurance: Fogafín or Fogacoop in Colombia; the IPAB or the SOFIPO fund in Mexico.
3. 3. Look at the limit on balance and monthly movements.
4. 4. Be wary of "up to" rates: what they advertise is not what you will get.
5. 5. Know where to complain: in Colombia, the Superfinanciera and the Financial Consumer Ombudsman; in Mexico, CONDUSEF.

This is information, not a recommendation: Neto is not a bank or a financial adviser. To see how it fits with the rest of your money, there are the best ways to manage money without a bank account, the net worth guide and the emergency fund.