Getting a French bank account

[Roli]

Hello All,

How does one open a French bank? What is required and which is the best bank to apply to?

These are the questions my friends have asked me, they will soon be moving to France but want to open an account first.

I cannot help them as when I opened mine, the man who sold me my house insurance had a word with his pal the Bank manager and my account just appeared.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Ron Avery]

If they don't speak French gp to CA Britline, the best bank depends on what they want, they are all different even the CA's across the country, probably the best bank is their nearest one

Although this has been covered umpteen times before and very recently, 2nd November actually, have a look at

http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=279&MessageID=250087&TopicPage=1 

But as search is not working......... 
You need money, passport and proof of residence in France, a utilty bill usually works,  if they have not bought they can show compromis or similar if not then they can get an entranger account.

[Roli]

Thank you Ron,

I will pass that on, perhaps the Britline would be the best thing for them as they can do that from UK.

I was in fact hoping to find it from the search, as they were waiting to hear from me.

But it brought up all kinds of stuff, that had nothing to do with banking.

Thanks again

[Brilec]

Be aware though, that from what I have read in various forums, Britline is probably the most expensive account to operate in France. Some have reported being charged for transferring euros to their account from england.

We opened ours with Credit Mutuel, on a reccomendation of our french estate agent. However we did do it in person, but only gave our english address as at that time we had only signed the compromis. We went straight round to the bank after signing.

We needed our passports, marriage certificate, money (though only 40€ and that was more than we needed). There is one person in the bank with good english, but the rest are very patient with our not so good french.

We are charged 3.50€ per month for an account with cheque book and maestro card, and the card cost 18€. I have seen charges of about double this from others.

If they are going to buy in france, there is no need to set up the account before they set foot in the country, wait till they have got a property (well, signed the compromis anyway) and then find a local bank. We sent the deposit money direct to the notaire as soon as we got back to england, so did not need the bank account until the signing of the acte. We paid for the house then with a french cheque.

Brian.

[mascamps.com]

Depends on how you're going to buy. If you will be getting a French mortgage, in practice you have to have a French account before applying. I think this is related to the lack of credit reference services in France - their thinking being that if someone else has trusted you enough to let you open an account then you can't be all bad.

Most of the banks now have english speaking branches which are listed at http://www.personallychosen.com/livinginfrance/ . I'd avoid Credit Agricole if our experience is anything to go by: highest charges, lowest service seems to be their motto. So far, I'm pretty impressed by BNP.

 

Arnold