Getting a credit card while living in France

[Chancer]

But do the French car and van hire companies really exist without the custom of non professional "particuliers"?

My gut feeling is no, remember that there was life and commerce before the advent of credit cards and computers.

Even my local supermarket has joined up with a nationwide car and van hire company to offer hire services to its customers, probably only a handful of which would be credit card holders. Brico-depot will let you hire a truck with a caution of around 800 Euros from memory.

When I tried to explain the UK consommateur and credit culture to my friends here I might as well have been describing an alien planet, the typical comments were "why would you want to buy things that you dont need that you dont have the money to pay for?" (houses and cars excepted) and as for remortgaging to cash in on the rising value of the home they were outraged "what would the children inherit?"

When I first moved here I was struck by the differences in for just 3 examples car dealerships, furniture showrooms and electromenagerie shops, a complete absence of huge advertising hoardings for instant credit etc that so often obscure completely the outlets in the UK.

Personally I think that most of the "world of leather" "leather world" or whatever they call themselves after last months liquidation and rebirth are principally interested in selling interest free credit that in practice wont be and 5 or 10 year guarantees that will only last as long as the company. The consumer article is just a convenient vehicle to sell the financial product.

To make a balanced posting I think that UK consumer law is much better in regard of informng people of what they will really be paying and comparative APR's etc, I get really cross when I see all the media adverts for "r'achat de credit" (probably mispelt) where they boast that you will save 60, 70 or 80% with them (OK true for the monthly payment) but at a much higher rate and over a far longer period, hardly a good deal even for the desperate.

 

[Iceni]

We run a business, I have always run it on my UK, French address Credit card but more importantly PayPal. PayPal has been my lifesaver BUT today they said that they can no longer accept credit cards issued in another country - money laundering laws. They say this will become standard.

Lucky it was not last week, I purchased something for $2000 and the US will not accept my card either so I have always gone via PayPal.

Off to the bank for a credit card as PayPal will not accept debit cards or currency transfers from the bank.

Rugger - they could not have chosen a worse time.

Really Di not John

[Sprogster]

Another consideration is that debit cards are more prone to transactions being declined when they are being used abroad, as compared to credit cards. One reason is that everytime you use your debit card the computerised authorisation process has to entail checking you have sufficient funds in your linked bank account, which is more susceptible to communication glitches, especially at busy times like holiday weekends.

With credit cards the process is more centralised and for small debits the retailer may have a floor limit and not require authorisation.  

[Wendy]

Yes Sprogster, Soc Gen are a proper bank as is BNP, the only PROPER banks in this country...those such as Credit Agricole, Banque Populaire, Caisse D'Espargne, Credit Mutual - virtually all the others here - are mutually owned banks (building societies) and are not given to issuing credit cards on the same scale as your Soc Gen, or BNP.  These other 'banks' are extremely limited in their resources.

Look at how diverse an organisation is Credit Agricole?...your local CA account  is not recognised in any other part of France. Your Soc Gen/BNP account will be though, right througout France. It is ridiculous! We have a CA account in Normandy and one here in the south...they are not connected in any way yet they are both CA accounts. Transferring funds from one to the other; you may as well be dealing with two different banks altogether.

What brightspark/s came up with this idea?