Opening a Bank Account in France?

DunPin

Granariesgirl wrote: »

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!

This is something that has concerned me slightly as reading around it is very much regional which is why I wanted to go for one of the bigger banks. I don't use cheques and doubt I'd start using them in France, I would much rather use cash, the debit card or charge card that comes with the account (for a fee) and I would be transferring any money by bank transfer.

I wouldn't apply for an overdraft for the French account, nor do I wish to live on credit in France although I would like to get an American Express in the future, the way to get that appears to be getting a UK card first then transferring the card. Aside from the Amex, I don't foresee them closing overdrafts without warning as an issue

From my research on other forums, they would give you a debit/charge card so long as you pay for it, I would hope I can at least get a cash card for the ATM.

Would I need to pay tax on a current account?

My French is decent I feel

I would like a French account as I am going to be in France more than any other country and I do hope to settle there in the future so having the hassle of opening an account over and done with now rather than down the line to me seems like a better option, especially when I have the funds to transfer a sizeable amount each month for the trips. I did think about getting an offshore Euro account but like I said, I prefer France.

macman wrote: »

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?

I travel to France (to Paris mainly for nights out and the Côte d'Azur) often, I do hope to one day settle in France as well.

Granariesgirl

Dunpin - Fair enough, see your point but even the big banks are usually regional. If you want something France-wide, go for an Internet bank, linky thing below (sorry, can't post proper links yet): http://www.banqueenligne.net/ Good luck!

DunPin

Granariesgirl wrote: »

Dunpin - Fair enough, see your point but even the big banks are usually regional. If you want something France-wide, go for an Internet bank, linky thing below (sorry, can't post proper links yet): http://www.banqueenligne.net/ Good luck!

Thank you, I shall look at the internet banking options

cyrilhahn

hope this helps here, there is all the info about individual french banks
french-mortgage-adviser
.com/bank-partners.html