Which Bank ?

[nokianut]

Im in the process of buying a holiday flat in the Alps near to Evian .

 

Question is I want the easiest way to open a bank account . Which of these will be the best way to do it.

1. Go to Calais on a day trip and open it there.
2. Try to fill out the forms of the Britline acount.
3. Try to fill out the Barclays forms.

Or any other suggestions.

 

The forms seem so in depth , as I only need an account . I dont need a mortgage .

If I open an account in Calais will it cause a problem as i'll use the account in Evian ?

The info I have says that I need to keep a min of 2300 euros in the account - is that correct ?

What Bank would you reccommend ?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[BJSLIV]

Once you have decided where you are going to buy, open an account with whichever bank has a local branch and also seems to be welcoming. If you bank with Barclays and they have a nearby branch,  perhaps go with them, but they can be a bit thin on the ground.

As you will see in other threads Britline can be a very mixed blessing.

 

[Kevinmc]

La Poste. Massive network and extended opening times compared to banks

Despite other's experiences, I've found them to be ideal 

 

[makeiteasy]

Hi Nokianut,

good question!!! First question:do you speak french? If yes, i recommend you to open your bank account in a branch near your place because it's easier to manage your account and to deal with your adviser if you need information or have any problem.

If no, it should be more cautious to open one with a bank which has an english speaking staff. Of course, the famous Britline is very known but if you want to pay cheque in your account you can't manage it from a local branch, because there is no connection between credit agricole and britline.Call or meet different bank in your area and ask them if they speak english or know anyone who speaks english(more and more banks are training people to speak english or have create a special branch for overseas clients).

I remember you that in the "3 old one"(les "3 vieilles" en français) which are Société Générale, BNP Paribas and Crédit Lyonnais you could access & manage your account from any place in France.

I hope it will help!!!

Céline Monier

 

 

[Liz]

"The forms seem so in depth , as I only need an account."

All banks these days will require in depth information, there is no escaping the form filling and proofs of identity.

Like Kevin I have found La Poste very good for a simple cheque account. If you intend to go to Calais I would suggest seeking them out although it is usual in any bank to make an appointment to open an account. You can then nominate another branch as the one you will use mainly and you can also, of course use any Post Office to draw out money.

Liz (29)

[Tourangelle]

I'd definitly go for your option 1 if you can. Having been with CA, I personally think it is very inconvenient to be attatched to a particular region. For a start if you just want to have a free card to get money out of a hole in the wall, you can't use it outside of your region. Plus the regions are really arbitrary. Barclays does not have a lot of branches. Now I am with the Societe Generale, and the account has moved around France with me. If you open an account in Calais, then you will beable to get it transfered to Evian when you are next there. The disadvantage of La Poste is that you often have long queues, but if you know your local branch is not to busy then it could be a good option.

[BJSLIV]

Another benefit of using a quiet local branch of La Poste is that given the total lack of privacy at the counter, it may well speed up the process of integration into the local community as news of your wealth and fortune spreads through the village!

[Liz]

[quote]Another benefit of using a quiet local branch of La Poste is that given the ltotal ack of privacy at the counter , it may well speed up the process of integration into the local community as news o...[/quote]

LOL. How very true! I very rarely go to my village post office but to a larger one and others in the area. This probably means that our business is known throughout a radius of 30km

I was in another region recently and noticed that they had a line drawn on the floor and a sign asking people to stay behind it and respect people's privacy. Times they are a changin'.

Liz (29)

[Fay]

We opened an account last weekend with Caisse d'Epargne in the small town where we are in the process of buying. We used them because they are the bank our immobilier uses, and he made the introduction for us, which seemed to help. It took about an hour to do but was all done online on the spot (and on a Saturday afternoon - try doing THAT in the UK!), so by the time we left we could view our account online complete with our initial deposit of 200 euros shown credited. They were hugely helpful and welcoming and, though at times my rusty O-level French was stretched, it wasn't too difficult to follow what was happening, because we were all looking at the screen. We didn't need to have paid in that much, though I'm not sure what the minimum deposit would have been. We will be charged a monthly fee of 8.80 euros for a cheque book, two cards and an agreed overdraft facility of 300 euros (which I didn't even think was allowed in France but we trust won't be necessary anyway!).

We took with us the following original documents, which simplified things:

Passports (which he photocopied)

Pay slips (from which he worked out our annual salaries and keyed in our employers names)

Birth certificates (from which he simply keyed in places and dates of birth, and my maiden name)

Marriage certificate (from which he keyed date of marriage)

Bills showing our UK address (which he keyed in)

Bank statements (which I don't think he even looked at)

Copy of our signed compromis (ditto, but perhaps only because he already knew we'd signed through the agent)

He also asked the value of our UK property.

I think that was it. Can't say yet if they'll be a great bank but they certainly got off to a good start.

We felt ridiculously excited about the whole thing!

Good luck with which ever one your choose.

Fay

[JohnM]

Something else that may be in favour of La Poste. This morning I discovered that Alliance and Leicester will transfer funds through the Giro network for £7.50, whereas they want £30 to pay it via Swift. I think La Poste is part of Giro.

 

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

John, do you have to be an A & L customer ? Also, I was thinking of opening a French bank acc. for convenience (culd do w/o one though), but I am shocked at what I'm reading ! One of the previous posts mentioned having to pay almost 9 euros/month for the 'priviledge' to have 2 cards and a small overdraft facility, what, you have to PAY £6/month for that in France ? I have 3 ordinary bank accs here (UK), one with a £2K overdraft allowed and all the bells and whistles, and I pay nothing, what is going on in the French banking network, are all banks like that ?

[Glubbyannie]

I am glad to read some of these replies. I still live in the UK but planning to live near my sister in Charente, so have already opened a Credit Agricole account with just a few Euros to start.

The account has only had a few payments in since opening last year, but I seem to be charged 6E per month on my statement as  "PREL CSCA EQUELIBRE ECFDI".

I have written asking them what this is for, but as yet no reply. I hold a "hole-in-the-wall" card as recommended by the Bank instead of a cheque book. 

Can anyone suggest a bank that doesnot tak this mysterious charge?:

[Tourangelle]

Mine doesn't! Société Générale. I used to bank with Credit Agricole but I wasn't very happy with them and one of the reasons was the costs. I would definitely not want to go with a bank that didn't give me a cheque book and a card to get money out of the wall.

[BJSLIV]

PREL CSCA EQUELIBRE ECFDI?????????????????

I guess that you are with Credit Agricole and have been signed up to their package account which includes various services which you may or may not need.

http://www.ca-nmp.fr/Vitrine/CatalogueProduit/FichProd/P_FichProd_CompteServiceEquilibre.jsp?Presentation=oui&Conditions=non&Questions=non&cario_produit=

 

[Will]

French banking is somewhere near where British banking was about 20 years or more ago, where every transaction was chargeable unless you maintained a certain balance.

As mentioned previously, most French banks are organised on a regional basis rather than national, so services and charges can vary according to where you live. Though there doesn't seem to be any difficulty with using cards in other regions, it is not easy to pay money into an account outside your home region.We have accounts with both our local Credit Agricole and with Société Générale, neither makes a monthly charge though I believe there is a small annual fee for the cartes bleues (which in the case of Soc Gen would increase to a rather large annual fee if we had a second card).

There is no such thing as free banking in France, in fact until quite recently the concept was effectively prohibited by law. It is of course possible to avoid certain chargeable services so you don't pay fees, but that's not really the same thing as free banking.

Overdrafts, particularly unauthorised overdrafts, are regarded quite differently too.

Different banks charge differently for various things, so if you are worried about this try and get a look at the scale of charges and find one that suits the sort of transactions you habitually undertake. A lot of people who use these forums consider La Poste to offer the best service for them, but I believe it can be rather slow and does not, in my view, seem to be the best option for transferring money to and from other countries, unless that's true about Giro and La Poste doesn't take too long over things..

You will find that it is very dificult, if not impossible, to own a house in France or live here without a French bank account.