Obtaining cash using a cheque?

[Daft Doctor]

Hi, I need to get an amount of cash which is well above my carte bancaire limits.  In the UK it would simply mean writing a cheque out for Cash and presenting oneself with the cheque and some ID to a branch of your bank.  Could anyone please tell me how one goes about it in France?  Thanks in advance.  [:)]

[nomoss]

In our bank (CA du Languedoc), if we want more than the card limit, we ask at the counter for the amount we want, and they give us a one-time card to get it out of the machine.

I don't know if there is any limit on that, I suppose it depends on how much is loaded into the machine, but there is a legal limit on cash one may carry.

I'm sure someone will be along to tell you how much that is[:D]

[Pickles]

You can make out a cheque to "moi-meme" and present it with ID at your bank branch but be aware that there are restrictions on the amount of cash that they will give you - have a look at your bank's website for details.

[Clair]

I did that with CA by presenting myself at the branch and simply asking.

Once she had checked I had the funds, the CA clerk "loaded" a blank card with the amount I required and I used it at the ATM for a one-off transaction.

That was it. Quick and simple.

[dave21478]

I tried to withdraw a few thousand from my CA account once. The nosey old bugger asked me what it was for and a load of other completely irrelevant prying questions and then said no anyway as they only carry a small amount of cash in the branch and if I wanted more, I had to order it several working days in advance with various forms of ID.

Check with your branch.

[EuroTrash]

At some banks/branches you can only withdraw cash over the counter at certain times during the week - eg Tuesday and Thursday mornings between 9 and 12 and Wed and Fri afternoons between 3 and 5. There is apparently no way round this because cashiers don't have access to the safe at other times. I was once at the counter 10 minutes before the window ended, doing a transaction that needed ID checked etc, and the cashier was in quite a panic and just managed to get it sorted before she was automatically locked out of the safe. So best check in advance.

[PaulT]

'The nosey old *** asked me what it was for and a load of other completely irrelevant prying questions'

I hope you told her that Silvio had invited you to one of your Bunga Bunga parties and you thought you would need plenty of readies for the ladies.

Is not the limit 3.000 euros?

[NormanH]

As Clair and nomoss say you can ask for a 'one-off' card for the sum required, but there are limits of a certain amount over a certain period.

For relatively substantial amounts you used to have to give notice but I believe there is a legal maximum limit on cash transactions for a professional service

http://droit-finances.commentcamarche.net/faq/7183-paiement-en-especes-et-liquide-plafonds

This is a letter I found from someone who was arguing with his bank:

La délivrance d’espèce est soumise à deux conditions : un délai de 48

heures et le contrôle de l’approvisionnement du compte. J’ai rempli

ces deux conditions.

L’interdiction du paiement en espèces de certaines créances, auquel

vous avez fait référence au cours de notre discussion téléphonique,

fait référence à l’article L112-6 du Code Monétaire et Financier. Cet

article ne plafonne pas le retrait d’espèces d’un particulier sur son

compte, et ne concerne pas non plus les paiements effectués entre

personnes physiques n'agissant pas pour des besoins professionnels.

Ayant parcouru le Code Monétaire et Financier et la convention de

compte de BNP Paribas, j’ai constaté qu’aucun article ne plafonne le

retrait en espèces (rien ne m’empêche de retirer cette somme en espèces

au guichet et en une seule fois si je le souhaite).

A ce jour, sauf démonstration de votre part en énonçant ces textes

de loi, la dite « décision » que vous avez annoncée n’a pas lieu d’être

puisque je n’ai pas à vous demander d’autorisation pour disposer de mon

argent si mon compte est approvisionné.

Par la présente, je vous demande donc de mettre à ma disposition en

espèce les xxxxx EUR disponibles sur mon compte sous un délai de 48

heures ou de m’adresser par écrit une lettre de refus.

J’attends aujourd’hui votre appel au

[andyh4]

PaulT

3000€ for a single purchase but in principle you should be able to withdraw more if the bank permits it.

DD

When you say withdraw from one of the branches, beware. Many banks will restrict what you can withdraw when not at your own branch and CA can make it even worse and not allow any withdrawals by cheque outside of the regional CA. So say bank with CA Haute Savoie and you may not be able to cash a cheque for even 1€ at say CA Rhone Alpes.

[Daft Doctor]

Thanks to all.  I bank with Axabanque, which makes it more complicated as they have no branches as such, probably a bit like First Direct in the UK.  If I pay cheques in I have to send them to Paris for instance.  I've noticed however that if I use a BNP Paribas ATM I can withdraw close to 1000 euros per day, so I will probably be ok just making a few trips to do that.