French Bank Account - UK Resident - Trying to buy a house in France

[Steve_Meribel]

I know that this is quite likely to be one of those questions that comes around so frequently and i'm sorry this is my first post but i'm hoping you can help.

I have found myself in the classic bureaucratic issue of wanting a french apartment, for which i'll require a french mortgage, for which i'll require a french bank account for which i'll require to have a french address in the first place.

I'm trying really hard not to find myself with an expensive bank account that costs me a fortune to keep running, and one that will allow me to make euro cash withdrawals for free when i;m in france.

Does anybody know how to break this cycle and start to open a bank account without a french address (yet)?

I'm looking for a basic french bank account (ie low monthly charges) and free cash withdrawals in Euro in france (and ideally low charges in other Euro countries) using an ATM type card. Visa Blue?

Can anybody point me at a bank account that i can open in anticipation of my mortgage/appointment? ideally one i cna open from the UK.

i know in my local town there will be a credit agricole and a Banque de Savoie.

are there any internet bank accounts i can open with a UK address?

I do not want to open a britline account due to the charges and the cost of taking money out in the rest of france (i do not intend to spend much time in Normandy)

Any pointers of how to move this forward? very stuck and signing date is getting very close indeed

[Mac]

''I do not want to open a britline account due to the charges and the cost of taking money out in the rest of france (i do not intend to spend much time in Normandy) ''

I don't understand this remark. We have a Britline account and we live in the Dordogne. We use our cash card and don't pay anything other than the normal fees that everyone pays for their bank account. We certainly don't pay to take money from a cash machine and do most of our banking on line anyway.

[EuroTrash]

You can't open a resident account unless you are a full time resident here (i.e. maison secondaire doesn't count. you don't say whether your apartment is going to be your permanent home or not) but you can apply to open a non-resident account. You'll need to provide statements from your UK bank etc. I don't see how you could open an account at a local French branch from the UK but I believe you can with Britline, and you may be able to open a non-resident account with an internet bank, or have you looked at HSBC, they do international banking? If you don't have an income in France and you're going to try and get a mortgage on the basis of earnings in the UK, you might stand more chance with HSBC.

Apart from that, French high street banks are much of a muchness really, some branches are better than others so local recommendation is always useful. The thing to watch is that they all have different accounts with different fees, and they might try to sell you one with bells and whistles rather than the cheap basic one. With CA (CA Normandie, not Britline) I can withdraw cash from any CA cash machine anywhere in France for free, and make a limited number of withdrawals per month fron other banks' cash machines - including overseas. If you exceed that number you get charged, but I never have.

But if you're in the UK, and especially since you need a mortgage, I think HSBC might be the place to try first, though I don't know anything about their fees.

[Steve_Meribel]

Maybe i misunderstood the T&Cs of the bank accounts.

investigated HSBC, and i don't earn enough for free international banking, so their charges seem to be about £25 per month!

I'm not intending on living there full time, just a holiday apartment there for the time being (we shall see)

Happy to be educated on the types of charges i might see and given any other options.

the fact there are different types for residents and second homes is a fact i was not aware of to be honest.

[EuroTrash]

The thing with banks in my experience is that the only address they will use is your residence principale, and before they will accept it you have to prove it, normally by showing them your tax forms with that address on.

Suggest you google a few high street and internet banks and look at their tarifs so you can compare. Internet ones are reckoned to be cheaper.

As an example, with CA I pay around 6 euros a month (at least I think it's every month, it might not be), it used to be about 4 but then I wanted internet banking and it went up. On top of that I pay around 50 euros each time a new card is issued, so once every 3 years. Then there's a bit to pay for certain special transactions, or for setting up direct debits other than to utilities companies which are free. So it's not megabucks, nothing to be scared of, although if you're used to free banking in the UK it takes a while to accept it.

But I still think your main criteria might have to be to go to whichever bank will offer you a mortgage, it might not be easy to persuade them.

[Chiefluvvie]

Steve - no such thing as free banking in France! You'll generally be charged for most services including cards - except for some on-line banks like ING Direct - but no good for non-resident.

Credit Agricole Britline would seem to be a great option for you as already suggested. Simply don't understand why you have a problem with them? You don't need a French address and you can withdraw ATM cash anywhere in France without charge - great if you're moving around. Why not arrange your mortgage through them as well?

Chiefluvvie

[PaulT]

When we found a house we wanted to buy (maison secondaire) the estate agent made an appointment for us with the local bank and an account was opened - they did not want to see tax forms or anything like that.

Our purchase fell through and we bought in a different area but it was a simple task to change to the new local bank.

And yes, there is no free banking in France.

Paul

 

[Chancer]

I have an opposing experience to a couple of the views expressed.

I have free banking in France, it hasnt cost me a centime since I got the necessary language skills to return and insist on them removing all of the premium services that they had kindly signed me up for (yes I know it was my signature), it took a few goes as initially I was given the bums rush hence the need to get up to speed in French, I also had to return several times as they would rarely action their promises, and also to get back the further charges added during their inaction, but since then, for some 4 years now, no charges whatsoever, I should add that I have a cheque book but no carte bleue.

Banks only accepting your principal address, well that was the case initially although I opened the account after moving in, my stumbling block was not being able to tell them how much money my wages were that would be paid in every month as I didnt and still dont have any, that was unacceptable, they could not understand that perhaps my situation was different to most others (a common failing in my experience) I simply had to put something in the box or they would not open the account, I wrote €2000 and the account was opened, the adress being my address in France. 

All was fine, the statements came etc until they sent me a weird form, in French of course but titled "Know your customer" it would appear that it is sent to non resident account holders for anti money laundering purposes, I filled out what I could of it and took it in insisting that they make the all the photocopies that were requested, i was not going to pay for their paperasse, from then on my statements were sent to my Uk address.

There then followed a bizarre series of meetings at the bank where they told me in all seriousness that i didnt live in France! - Sorry poupée but I do! At the address where untill now you have sent the statements. We have no record of that address, it does not exist, you live in Sussex. At which point I got out my cheque book which was printed with my French address.

I never did resolve this one, life is too short and when i saw how much postage it was costing them to forward a statement every month showing one transaction I was quite happy to let them rack up costs administering my free banking.

[suein56]

[quote user="PaulT"]And yes, there is no free banking in France. [/quote]

Technically that is not so as you can operate a bank account for free - with even a free bank card thrown in - via the likes of internet bank Ing. I'm sure there are others too.

Also the Post Office do an extremely cheap cheque account which costs some miniscule amount ie about 4€ a year. But no free card with that one. Though the internet part is free with LaBanquePostale.

But neither of these get around the problem of not having a French address. We used our rented gite as an address, as we had a contract for 12 weeks, as I needed a French bank account simply to be able to pay for internet access by prélèvement automatique.

Sue

[Pads]

Simular to above when we opened our account we were signed up for a few services we didnt need , because we didnt understand what they were , I have since read up about them and cancled them , I no longer have any charges on my account .

We opened it by walking into the bank with our passports and proof of our address in the UK . This was before we brought our mansion secondaire as we needed it to send the money to to pay for the deposit . its a on line account with cheque book and c/card. We spent about an hour with the bank manager filling in forms and talking , plus she even excepted our 5,000 deposit in dollars which surprised me , but then I think she fancied my husband !! ;)

Edit ...Just remembered , she asked us to return with the address when we brought our house , until then she kept the statements, card, cheque book, plus any other mail that would of gone to us at her Bank for us to pick up from her when it arrived.

[Chiefluvvie]

Goodness me...just open a CA Britline account with a UK address....job done !

Chiefluvvie

[Chiefluwie]

[quote user="Chiefluvvie"]Steve - no such thing as free banking in France! You'll generally be charged for most services including cards - except for some on-line banks like ING Direct - but no good for non-resident.

Credit Agricole Britline would seem to be a great option for you as already suggested. Simply don't understand why you have a problem with them? You don't need a French address and you can withdraw ATM cash anywhere in France without charge - great if you're moving around. Why not arrange your mortgage through them as well?

Chiefluvvie[/quote]

Not often right but wrong again!

And for the next advert? Perhaps Crédit Mutuel

[NickP]

In my opinion I think the French post office bank is as good as any, charges are a few Euros a year and they give us a current account, a cheque book and pay all our standing orders in France. We also have a savings account; Livret A to keep a small sum of money at hand should it be needed. Don't have a French credit card as we feel the charges are a too high, and unnecessary in our case as you can use a UK card everywhere now. Like someone else said we were never asked if our house was a main residence or a holiday home. For us superb service  for very little costs. Works very well for a "perpetual tourist" [:D]

[Steve_Meribel]

Has anybody had any experience of dealing with Boursorama?

http://www.boursorama.com/banque-en-ligne/compte-bancaire/souscrire-en-ligne/

[Stan Streason]

Once again I would recommend Britline.  It cost me about €30 for 2 cards and a monthly charge of about €3 that I probably could reduce if I were bothered.  Unless you are fluent in French Britline can be a godsend.

Last year my card decided to refuse me any cash.  One call, in english reassured me there was nothing wrong with the account, nor the card; it was the CA ATM in the supermarket that had the fault.

I could just have done it in French at a local bank but on the phone it would have been tough tough going.

[Chiefluvvie]

I see my doppelganger Chiefluwie above has recommended Credit Mutuel. I know they offer a few leaflets and guides in English but not the full English speaking branch and documentation that CA Britline (Normandie) offer out of Caen - no comparison.

You could also try CA Sud Mediterrannee based out of Perpignan - they also offer English speaking services / branch.

Or there's Barclays, HSBC....Loads of choice out there!

Chiefluvvie

[Pickles]

[quote user="Steve_Meribel"]Has anybody had any experience of dealing with Boursorama?

http://www.boursorama.com/banque-en-ligne/compte-bancaire/souscrire-en-ligne/[/quote]

Yes, and we are very happy with them. I have sent a PM

Regards

Pickles