Opening a New French Bank Account

[Laurier]

I know this has been covered in the past, in various posts, but I would appreciate any up to date information on opening a French bank account.

I would go for Britline since my French is passable but not fluent. However, as has been mentioned before, they seem to want so much unnecessary information.

They want proof of visits to France in the last 6 months and I haven't kept the boarding cards for the ferries and they won't accept copies of internet reservations.

Just reading their list of requirements and the fact that I may have to see a solicitor to get certifications since I believe the bank won't do it, is raising the blood pressure. Added to this, it means doing it 3 times over since I have 3 different accounts.

I really would appreciate some advice on how to decide on a bank which would be used for the initial transfer and subsequent transfers of income.

Perhaps I'm anticipating difficulties which won't arise and wonder if it is possible just to walk into a bank when I am there with my passport and a utility bill?

Thanks in advance

Regards

Laurier

[AnOther]

Unfortunately, as with so many other aspects of French bureaucracy, there is no 'one size fits all' answer to this question and it will vary from bank to bank and indeed very possibly branch to branch.

At the bare minimum I would say passport, proof of address (French that is) and recent UK bank statements, that was all we needed when opening our A/C with our local CA. Proof of address was the copy of the Acte with the ink still wet as we

had come straight from the Notaires office after signing it and our initial deposit was a Notaires cheque for an overpayment on the purchase price.

Unless you are set on a particular bank you might do the rounds of those in your area to find out which in fact has the least onerous demands.

[londoneye]

Hi

Just to reiterate what AnOther has said really, I think it depends on bank.

When we came here (admittedly 5 years ago), OH walked into local bank with passport and a deposit cheque and opened an account.

We had no bills etc in his name as all is in my name, including the house.   Of course bank procedures may have tightened up since then.       He was not required to give UK bank statements or any other form of identity, other than his passport (seems a bit weird in hind-sight !) just to sign an awful lot of copies of papers and hand over a cheque (which was a largish one - we thought that might help !)

[andyh4]

Regarding advice on which bank to choose, I would (with hindsight) choose a bank local to where you will be buying.

 

It is a pain in the proverbial when you have to deal with a branch that is 500km away - it wasn't when we set up the account - and just because it seems to be the same bank as the one in your local town does not mean that it is.

[mint]

You could do worst than look at la Banque Postal.

Open Mondays![:P]

[Laurier]

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I need to leg it around the banks in this area until I find one who I would be able to communicate with and who offers me an account on production of the usual documents.

Laurier

[allanb]

I've posted this before and I know it wouldn't be the solution in every case, but here's something worth trying: go to your UK bank and ask if they have a correspondent relationship with a French bank and, if so, would they give you a letter of introduction.   (The "correspondent" bit isn't really necessary, but it can make some transactions quicker and easier.)

Not all banks will do this, but in our case it worked like a charm.  Of course we had to fill in some forms and send copies of a few things, but nothing out of the ordinary, and the account was open and usable before we ever set foot in the bank. 

It turned out that we didn't like the French bank very much and after two years we changed to another one.  But once you've established residence, that's fairly easy.

[Laurier]

Allanb - thanks very much - certainly worth sounding out my bank which I will do next week.

Rgds

Laurier

[Stan Streason]

You seem to be prepared to go through all kinds of hoops just to avoid pulling a few bits of paper together for Britline.  My bank (Lloyds) certified everything thast was needed in one quick visit.  We included a copy of the compromise in our pack but it says they also accept credit card statements with French transactions not just boarding passes.

As I say, a bit of pulling together paperwork, a trip to my bank, a few phonecalls from Britline to confirm stuff and I had the account within a couple of weeks.  Easy and painless and I certainly have not regretted the choice - having someone to phone in English when a french petrol pump chews up your card on a deserted forecourt on a sunday was worth the admin alone.

[Iceni]

I decided to open an account in our nearest town. The 3 options were BP, CA and LCL. BP had a manager who spoke good English so I chose it. The fact that said manager left after a few months to be replaced by someone resembling a 12 year old whose English was on a par with my French just encouraged me to improve my French.

IMHO near beats English every time - but have not gone with La Poste as opening hours are afternoons only (except when it is isn't of course) and even dated Saturdays.

John

[Laurier]

Stan, you are right about the hoops and I am trying to bite the bullet. However, having read all the recommendations for Britline, I am coming round to it. Even though my French is pretty good, it might not be up to conversing in bank-speak if I did, indeed, land in a situation such as you and Coops mention.

It is proving a tad more taxing than you experienced but it is not helped in that I have several different accounts at different banks and in order to show monthly income and expenditure, I have to do every bank/building society.

Some of it has been relatively simple but some quite obstructive. (The computer says "no" comes to mind!)

Unfortunately, I don't have a compromis yet and I don't have credit card statements since I didn't use the credit card when on holiday. I haven't saved the boarding passes so am trying to get an original letter from the ferry company to state that i travelled with them.

I'm sure it will come together in the end - I probably was a bit negative.

I can only send in what I have and see if they want my business!

Thanks anyway

laurier