Opening a Bank Account in France?

DunPin

I was wondering if anyone had experience of opening a bank account in France? I have done a search of the forum and there appears to be a couple on German banks but not so clear on French banks so I thought I'd ask

I am looking at BNP Paribas and Soci!t! G!n!rale as the main banks to go for however I am clueless as to whether or not they would allow someone without a French address to open an account, is it possible?

innovate

Try Credit Agricole Britline
http://www.britline.com/

DunPin

innovate wrote: »

Try Credit Agricole Britline
http://www.britline.com/

I shall check them out thank you although they do seem to be too basic, I don't see them even offering a debit card

Thank you

innovate

Yes they do.

DEBIT CARDS : We offer the Eurocard Mastercard Debit card which enables you to make payments, withdraw cash and use the 24 hour petrol stations and motorway tolls.
Order your card today by simply calling us or e-mailing your request. We will send you a card to your home address.
A Gold Card is also available subject to approval. Click here for more details.

http://www.britline.com/currentaccount/using/make_payments.asp

jonesMUFCforever

With a French bank account don't ever assume anything with regards to the balance etc. If you give someone a rubber cheque it is a criminal offence!
Always check to make sure you have adequate funds in the account before making a withdrawal.

DunPin

innovate wrote: »

Yes they do.

http://www.britline.com/currentaccount/using/make_payments.asp

Ah so they do, my mistake, they are an option now although I would prefer one of the bigger banks for easier use around France, so I guess I'll pop into a branch when I am over there next, Britline are a contender should I not get an account with one of the others

innovate

Credit Agricole is on every street corner in France! You'll have a job getting them any larger.

Credit Agricole S.A. (CASA) is the largest retail banking group in France, second largest in Europe and the eighth largest in the world by Tier 1 capital according to The Banker magazine. It is also part of the CAC 40 stock market index.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A9dit_Agricole

Credit Agricole is one of the largest banks in France, with over 8000 branches. CA Britline is a branch of Credit Agricole Normandie, which provides an English speaking French Banking service to clients resident in France, the UK and Ireland.

Source: http://www.britline.com/

nonolerigolo

DunPin wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone had experience of opening a bank account in France? I have done a search of the forum and there appears to be a couple on German banks but not so clear on French banks so I thought I'd ask

I am looking at BNP Paribas and Soci!t! G!n!rale as the main banks to go for however I am clueless as to whether or not they would allow someone without a French address to open an account, is it possible?

I am not sure if you wish to settle in france. If you do not wish to settle in france, I would not bother about opening a bank account in france other european country may be more advantageous.. The bank account are not free in france, you may have to pay around 80 - 100 euros depending on the banks. Typical saving account is called "le livretA", it is the best one with the higest intrest rate.You do not pay tax on it. You may pay tax on the others account independant of wether you live abroad or not. Interest rate for le livret A is 1.75%, it is changed twice a year and it is expected to go down coming August. As mentionned before I will only consider it if I was living in france. Hope it helps

DunPin

nonolerigolo wrote: »

I am not sure if you wish to settle in france. If you do not wish to settle in france, I would not bother about opening a bank account in france other european country may be more advantageous.

The bank account are not free in france, you may have to pay around 80 - 100 euros depending on the banks. Typical saving account is called "le livretA", it is the best one with the higest intrest rate.You do not pay tax on it. You may pay tax on the others account independant of wether you live abroad or not. Interest rate for le livret A is 1.75%, it is changed twice a year and it is expected to go down coming August. As mentionned before I will only consider it if I was living in france. Hope it helps

At some point I would indeed love to settle in France as I love the country, I have seen that you can open a bank account with DKB (I think, I read it on one of the threads here) in Germany which I don't mind doing but I'd rather have a French account

Yes I saw that, you have to pay for everything from the debit card to basic banking services although I don't mind that so much as at the end of the day, I would consider it worth it

Granariesgirl

DunPin wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone had experience of opening a bank account in France? I have done a search of the forum and there appears to be a couple on German banks but not so clear on French banks so I thought I'd ask

I am looking at BNP Paribas and Soci!t! G!n!rale as the main banks to go for however I am clueless as to whether or not they would allow someone without a French address to open an account, is it possible?

Hi,
I spent nearly 20 years in France & quite frankly, unless you are going to live there soon - DON'T open an account!
French banks are usually regional - yes they go on about having 1000's branches all over the country but you'll find yourself in a regional bank & usually won't be able to pay in cheques other than in your local branch... if you move regions you have to go through the whole nause of changing regions which is just as bad as changing banks!
Internet banking is national however & works as well as here.
Be aware that French banks are not for anyone who goes regularly over their overdraft limit & lives on credit - they can be VERY nasty about that & cut off funds immediately & make the client "interdit bancaire" - forbidden to bank (account frozen & all banks notified you are on blacklist). I helped someone who was IB for a cheque where the insufficient funds in account amounted to a princely 14€10 - they didn't speak French & were in deep doo-doo.
:eek:

Banking fees, as mentioned above, are expensive & you don't get any better service. Some internet banks are free & the service isn't any worse.
I would be surprised if they let you have a debit card without a regular income (salary or pension) coming into that account, too. They also usually demand proof of residence/ property ownership in the country.
Have you thought of the pain with your tax declarations? France is Jan to Dec & it will be a total pain in the bum working out interest for HMRC...

You'd better be damn good at French, too as when there is a problem with your account there will probably suddenly be a dearth of English speakers available to help you...
Could you deal with internet fraud, missing funds, stolen credit card etc. in the foreign bank's language?

I would advise staying well clear unless you really need a French bank account to pay bills etc. on a French property but that's just my advice!;)

Have you thought of looking for an offshore Euro account with your current UK bank? They all have offshore branches so that all those nice honest politicians & bankers can domicile their funds elsewhere & pay less tax... call the people in Jersey/ Guernsey directly as the local branch people will probably know the square root of F-all!

Keep us all posted & good luck!

macman

Why do you want to open a personal account in France if you are not resident there? You don't have to tell us, but you'll certainly have to tell the bank you apply to. I presume it is because you have a property there or are intending to buy a property there?