The Financial Superintendency of Colombia, through Concept No. 2017121469-001 dated November 24, 2017, issued a statement regarding the refusal by some banks to provide financial services to foreigners, clarifying that immigration status alone cannot be a valid reason to restrict access to the Colombian financial system.
In the words of the concept itself:
“Our legislation does not contain any rules or special conditions for the opening of bank accounts by foreigners in Colombia. However, it is important to note that, regarding the identification of the applicant, the competent authority to determine the valid identification documents for foreigners within national territory is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For such purposes, this Ministry has established that the valid identification documents are: foreigner ID card (cédula de extranjería), valid passport, and diplomatic card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Decree 834 of 2013, Article 36).”
This statement disproves a common practice among banking institutions, which consists of requiring a cédula de extranjería as an indispensable requirement to open a bank account. Such a requirement disregards the fact that many foreign nationals, especially from visa-exempt countries, may legally stay in Colombia for up to 180 days per year using only their passport, without the need for a visa or, therefore, a cédula de extranjería.
Although financial institutions have autonomy to establish risk management policies, this authority cannot translate into discrimination based on nationality. The same concept warns:
“Supervised entities, including banking institutions, are responsible for defining their risk policies (reputational, operational, legal, concentration risks, among others), which must be based on objective criteria related to knowledge of the financial consumer or counterparty. Once these criteria have been assessed, they may serve as legitimate grounds to authorize or deny the provision of the respective product or service.”
Therefore, refusing to provide a financial service solely on the basis of foreign nationality or the absence of a cédula de extranjería (foreigner ID card, requieres to be a Colombian visa holder) violates constitutional principles of equality and non-discrimination, and may lead to sanctions by oversight authorities.
Now, regarding the foreign exchange regime, the Central Bank of Colombia (Banco de la República) does establish specific restrictions for bank accounts opened in the name of non-residents (foreign individuals staying fewer than 183 days per year in Colombia, and foreign legal entities). According to Chapter 10 of External Regulatory Circular DCIP-83, these accounts are classified as:
1. General-purpose accounts: These may be opened in the name of non-residents for various purposes. However, account holders may not use the funds deposited in them to disburse loans in Colombian legal currency or to carry out foreign exchange transactions that must be mandatorily channeled, except in limited cases. If engaging in currency exchange transactions with Foreign Exchange Market Intermediaries (IMC), the submission of a Foreign Exchange Declaration with the minimum required information is mandatory.
2. Restricted-use accounts: These accounts are used for direct foreign investment operations (activated by funding and closed once the investment is formalized). This category includes accounts for portfolio investors (individual or omnibus accounts), foreign securities central deposit accounts, accounts for external credit operations in local currency, electronic deposits, and Simplified Transaction Accounts (Cuentas de Trámite Simplificado – CATS), among others.
Conclusion: Colombian legislation does not impose additional requirements on foreigners to access the financial system. Requiring a cédula de extranjería as an exclusive condition lacks legal basis and may constitute a discriminatory practice. Nevertheless, banks retain the authority to deny the opening of financial products based on objective risk assessments, and this continues to be a widespread practice when only a passport is presented. Additionally, it is important to consider that bank accounts opened in the name of non-residents are subject to specific restrictions under the foreign exchange regime, which must be carefully considered, particularly in the context of foreign investment operations.