The Colombian financial system is based on a specialized bank scheme, meaning that each activity of the financial sector and the stock market can only be carried out by entities that have been specially designed for said activity.

The system is divided into the intermediated sector and the disintermediated sector. The former groups together banking and insurance institutions and activities together with complementary or related services. The latter, often called the stock market, is the sector that brings together all the institutions and activities where no professional intermediation exists between the surplus and deficit sectors of the economy.

In addition, there are two types of bank account: current accounts, which allow depositors to deposit amounts of money and checks in a banking institution and have their balance totally or partially available through writing checks or using other instruments; and savings accounts, which must offer a minimum level of interest and do not allow checks to be received.