Phone and banking for son working in France

Duster

For Sim Cards there is a company called joemobile.fr which is an online only company owned by SFR. One of the no contract deals it offers is for 20 euros a month unlimited calls to France landlines /mobiles and unlimited calls to UK landlines and those in 50 other countries. It also includes 3Gb data which can be used on the phone or in a dongle. I use it all winter. It accepts UK debit/credit cards. If you would like a free sim card under its recommend a friend scheme just pm me your UK address. There is no catch!

gfplux

You say he will be able to skype. Will he have wifi where he is based.
If so the free apps whatapp and/or Viber use wifi to send free text messages to others using those apps.

angelil

Thomas_Crown wrote: »

Documentation required to open a current account:- 3 x bank statements, council tax bill, utility bill, passport. The account will normally be run free of charge but a debit card costs from 38 Euros per year.

Not true. You only need ID and proof of a job offer. I know because I did it not that long ago (2008) - rocked up in France with no proof of accommodation (moved in with my boyfriend, so everything had his name on it) and was still able to open a bank account with no problems. They also didn't ask how long I would be staying so can't imagine this would preclude the OP's son from opening an account either.

Thomas_Crown

angelil wrote: »

Not true. You only need ID and proof of a job offer. I know because I did it not that long ago (2008) - rocked up in France with no proof of accommodation (moved in with my boyfriend, so everything had his name on it) and was still able to open a bank account with no problems. They also didn't ask how long I would be staying so can't imagine this would preclude the OP's son from opening an account either.

I stand by what I posted. I opened a current account with Banque Populaire in November 2012 & they required all the documents listed in my post. Earlier this year, they asked for a photocopy of my passport even though my branch already has one. Then in September my branch asked me for an original utility bill to confirm my UK address. I emailed them a utility bill.

Butterfli

I would suggest your son gets himself a credit card from the Post Office and another from Halifax. These will let him spend without having to pay commission.
I would recommend he gets a Euro cash passport, easily picked up in Tesco, and load it initially with a couple of hundred Euros. With this he can get cash when he needs it from ATM. Tesco doesn't have the best rate of exchange so I would recommend he tops it up over the phone from his English bank account after that. It's easily done and means that he doesn't have to keep huge amounts of money around.
Hope he has a great time.

angelil

Thomas_Crown wrote: »

I stand by what I posted. I opened a current account with Banque Populaire in November 2012 & they required all the documents listed in my post. Earlier this year, they asked for a photocopy of my passport even though my branch already has one. Then in September my branch asked me for an original utility bill to confirm my UK address. I emailed them a utility bill.

Maybe it depends on your bank, then (I opened an account with Le Credit Lyonnais when I arrived in France). It could also vary depending on whether you are a resident or not (not just a second home owner). I'll have to ask my parents (who own a holiday home in France) what they had to provide (to the Credit Agricole).