which bank?

[Guest CFrost]

Hi everyone, we are visiting france (dept 17, staying in Mirambeau) to view properties next week and are considering opening our bank account at the same time. has anyone any recommendations on the best bank to use, ie charges, help lines with bi lingual staff etc! asking a lot I know, but we want to  'get it right' first time. Many thanks in advance.

k

[Jeremy]

Credit agricole have a dedicated ' Britline'

But you have to provide a lot of info and they only online or by phone.

French banks all charge as opposed to UK baks and you need to shop around to get the best deals.

Also unlike UK, banks will not share customers between branches; By that I mean all banks are a bit like franchises and operate independantly of one another; So if you open a CA account in Paris, then want to live in Marseille; you will evenyually need to close Paris account and open a New account near where you live.

You can send CA in Paris any cheques you want to pay in, BUT they say it will take 30 days to process.........

So , rule is open an account where you will be living....

Charges....Yes and lots of them.Not cynical or anything but France and customer relations do NOT go together in any way, or I just have been unlucky..

You will need a bank account if you buy here so just take an extra hour to choose carefully...Good Luck, Jeremy.

[Herring_Brother]

A french friend of ours mentioned that the Post Office (La Poste) is a good option - has anybody had any experience of this type of account?

Cheers,

MattP

[Guest CFrost]

thanks jeremy, didn't know about the franchise aspect.  I think we will wait until insitu.

thanks again

[Kevinmc]

Ah banking !!!!!

Reality of banking with CA Britline isn't too bad. I have an account with them and top it up occasionally with a cheque drawn on another CA agence in the Limousin. They tend to credit my account within 24 hours. Alternatively, give the source bank an RIB and they'll credit almost straight away. Use any form of money transfer other than cheques and you'll be OK.

I opened my first French account with them in the pre money laundering days, before the European banking system realised that we all earn a living dealing drugs and arms, when we're not on active service with al-Qaeda. With both CA and La Poste, the exercise was done and dusted within a week. Copy of passport and a bill was all it took. With the new legislation they want all sorts of evidence, so go armed with copies of passports, certificates, proof of earnings etc. and be prepared for a wait for your cards/cheque books etc.

The big benefit with La Poste is the size of the network and the opening hours, far better than most rural banks.

It's certainly worth getting things in motion at the earliest opportunity, if only for the benefit of a French card at petrol stations on a Sunday.

[Tourangelle]

The "franchise" aspect mentioned above is not true for all banks.  I know it is the case for Credit Agricole, and for Credit Mutuel and La banque Populaire.  But it isn't for la Sociéte Générale, my account has been in Paris, in Tours and is now in Lyon, and it was transferred just as it would have been in Britain.

Jane

[Hagar]

Would agree that CA britline is not that bad. There are charges that we are not used to in the UK but they are not that significant.

Notwithstanding the documents they now require you will find it useful to have a french bank account while house hunting and since you haven't already bought , location of the bank is not that important. You can always open a second account locally when you are settled.

I find the online service is very good and has just been extended so that you can make payments to third parties directly.

Transferring money from UK always credited within 3 days.

I think the paying in of cheques thing is only really of concern to those running some form of business locally.

 

[Andyphilpott]

I use Credit Ag in my village in 83 which I opened a few months before I bought my holiday home.

It helped having French friends in the village who made the intro's and translated where necessary.

Initially they tried to make charges for all sorts of obscure things, but now I only pay for our debit cards - mine full price and my wife's at half. Watch out for charges for services which you have not signed up for. I have found that you have to specifically opt out of a service otherwise they assume you want it and make the charge. You cannot ignore any advertising blurb they send as you might well be accepting a useless service by default!

Just a question of being firm with them.

 

Andy