A lesson in Colombian banks

The other day I was having my weekly English lesson with my eye doctor where we talk about a variety of topics, from politics and the presidential elections to his love life and being single. I enjoy these classes, as they feel more like a conversation than an actual lesson. I point out his errors in the past tense and help out with new vocabulary, but Martin just loves to talk so the class is pretty easy and requires little-to-no preparation. On Tuesday we started talking about loans, mortgages and banks. I had heard before how the banks were basically thieves, charging you for every little action you wanted to take, but I still can't get over it. Here's an overview:

Let's start with banks: Since I'm getting a cedula (social security-like number) here I need to open a bank account. I went to Bancolombia (the most recognized bank in the country, not just for its expansive selection of ATMs all over the country, but also for storing away drug traffickers' money without blinking) to find out about how I could go about opening up a bank account. The man proceeded to tell me that the monthly management fee for a savings account is 9,000 pesos (about $5) and that includes 4 withdrawals with my ATM card per month. After those 4 times, I would be charged another $2 or so every time I wanted to take out money. Just to have the account I would be charged $60 a year! What about a checking account? A few bucks more to "manage" the account and no withdrawals included. And then there's the requirements. For a savings account I need to get a letter from my work that details how much money. They didn't tell me what the minimum salary was, but what seems absurd is that you need a legitimate salaried job to have a bank account. What about the drug traffickers? Do they get a letter from the DEA?

Let's move on to mortgages/loans: My eye doctor told me the story about a friend of his. She wanted to make the big move of buying an apartment that cost about $100,000 (I'll try to translate the costs to dollars here). She went to the bank and she took out a 15-year mortgage where she will pay $1,500 per month over 15 years. If we multiply months x years we find that this woman will end up paying $220,000. That is over 100% interest! This is just absurd. This woman will have paid off her house after 5 and a half years and will be paying pure interest for the rest of the 9.5 years! Martin explained to me that the idea is that after 15 years the house will be worth that price and more. When I asked him how he paid for his car, he told me he saved up and just bought it in cash. Wow. I feel like credit is just so ingrained in American culture.

With this information, it's obvious why Colombia was barely affected by the economic crisis to the extent that the United States was. The banks will never go bankrupt! They make way too much money. And they don't just give out loans, they make you pay for it (literally)! No wonder people don't have bank accounts here and just hide their money under their mattresses.