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Having Difficulty Opening a Business Bank Account (AutoEntrepreneur)


Jethro

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Bonjour a tous,

I am 21 years old living in

France and have recently registered as an Autoentrepreneur, with an

expected income (monthly) of between 1-2k EUR.

I have attempted to open a

bank account at both Banque Populaire and La Post just this morning

and both banks have tried to force a Professional account on me

saying... "it is illegal to have a 'normal' bank account as an

autoentreprenure".

I was quoted at being

charged 50 EUR monthly and 80EUR every three months for a professional

account.

I believe this is false.

I understand that

Autoentrepreneurs are required by law to have a dedicated bank

account for their businesses, however that is not the same as a professional bank account. What I need is a NORMAL business bank

account.

What is the best approach to

make it clear to the bank personnel that I am entitled to a normal

BUSINESS bank account?

Thanks for taking the time

to read,

Best regards – Jethro.

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Welcome to the Forum

I would suggest you do a bit of Googling and try this as a search criteria.

tarif banque auto entrepreneur

I did find that the Banque Postale does one from 16 Euros per month depending what other 'goodies' you want like a Visa card and Internet banking.

https://www.labanquepostale.fr/professionnels/services/compte_pro.html

You do have to have a business account, that's for sure. You also need Public Liability insurance or so say the ones I looked at.

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I am not sure how good your French is but here :

http://droit-finances.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-4295468-ouverture-d-un-compte-pro-auto-entrepreneur

It says that the rules changed on Jan 1st 2015 but that it might still be possible to use an adjusted current account.

Also someone posting is very against LaPoste banking as they are very slow in processing credits but very quick to process debits !

Sue
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Just go and open a personal account at any bank of your choice and use that for your AE earnings.

 

If people write the cheque to your business name just sign the back and pay it in in the usual manner, my bank doesnt check anything.

 

I dont even use a seperate bank account but I am not currently an AE, to me its like many of the other requirements like keeping a ledger of expenses, a complete waste of time given that you cannot claim against overheads, the only possible use would be for them to try and see if you are declaring the true chiffre d'affaires.

 

I wont (willingly) do anything that consumes up my time and only benefits the enemy, a seperate bank account falls into that category.

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AFAIK you can't officially use a trading name as an AE in any case, since the business is you, there is no separate entity, it is registered under your own name. Hence why a personal account is OK I suppose.

Have to say I thought it was all a waste of time when they brought it in but having had a separate account for a year, I find it has many advantages.
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No question about that as long as you are not paying €500 in bank charges for a part time job earning pin money, it seems to be the French way to clobber businesses from every angle.

 

I'm sure many of us have more than one UK bank account, you move to another because its a better deal but keep the old one just in case, I still have a Nationwide account that no longer suits me but is used simply to receive and then pay back £500 per month fram Santander meaning that I can get 3% interest on a second Santander One account, of course each bank plies you with free credit cards that give one a good line of credit in an emergency.

 

Now I dont know a single French person that has more than one current account, the charges see to that and the banks will consider you a money launderer if you try to open a second one, however pay them €500 for un compte pro and suddenly you are  legit AKA un pigeon.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi all,

I want to truely thank you all for your kind and considered replies.

Yesterday I went to Credit Agricole and successfully opened a bank account. The staff were extremely helpful - far more so then the other banks. I explained my situation and they offered an option that cost 4EUR per month that includes online banking etc... very pleased with Credit Agricole and will recommend.

Kind regards!

Jethro.

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Well done, Jethro, your persistence has provided you with a solution.

However, I think I'd just mention that, whilst you are very happy with your branch of CA, the service (and personel) can vary widely between different branches.

Therefore, only recommend the branch that you have experience with.  Certainly there are many on here who have had less than happy experiences with CA.

BTW, Good Luck with your new enterprise[:)]

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