French credit cards

[Johndeb]

Please can someone advise where and how to best go about getting a French credit card.

We reside in France and bank with CA Calvados and have just been told they don't issue credit cards to their account holders.

We have UK credit cards but have had a few problems with large purchases.  Even though our UK bank knows we live in France, they have an automated fraud system and large purchases outside the UK tend to send it into overdrive and it can all get rather embarrassing at the checkout!

Apologies if this has been covered recently but couldn't find anything on the forum.

Regards

Deb

 

 

[a.foreman]

we had no problem with our  French bank CCF

we found with our UK cards that we at to ring through to them before hand and tell them we would be using it

them we were ok

[Teamedup]

France is the debit card country, generally people do not use credit cards here and banks don't usually just issue them either.

You could try EGG but you will have to remember that you will probably have to meet the 33% of your income criteria to get a card too. This means all loans (including rent) must not go over 33% of your income.

Personally if I need to spend a large sum using my card then I get a gold debit card which has a large limit on it. And if I need credit I always get a loan at a fixed rate.

[Liz]

Our experience of French credit cards was so poor I would not recomend bothering to ask for one. We had a Barclaycard (french version). Because we had one in the UK and used it a lot over here they invited us to take a French one. The credit limit was ludicrously low, something like the equivalent of £500 a month, not because we were considered a poor risk, this is simply their policy. After the first year, in which we had managed to get a free card, they were willing to put the limit up to about £750/month and wanted to charge about £40 for the card. At that point we had had enough and declined their offer. I investigated a card from Egg also but I am not sure if they are still in business here. Egg discovered that the French market is simply not like the British.

We have given up on cards completely in France and now use a cheque book for everything.

Liz (29)

[Tourangelle]

Société générale would give you a credit card, but the conditions are not great. It must a CA specific thing it seems strange they don't do one.

[Miki]

....... I investigated a card from Egg also but I am not sure if they are still in business here. Egg discovered that the French market is simply not like the British.

Egg France found a new buyer finally, at the last hour. It was Accord, the financial arm of Auchan.

Prudential were rather taken aback that the French would not go with their cashback and other offers and like many other foreign companies trying to enter the French market, found that going against traditional French trading methods, was one of the most difficult barriers to break down. Anyway, they are certainly still about.

I have been with them a while here in France (since their first week in France) and cannot personally fault them, go to www.egg.fr and take another look.