Moving to France - credit card advice?

tidyfinance

Hi all,
Our son is about to embark on a rugby career in France and we would welcome any advice regarding credit cards and mobiles phone use whilst over there.
Is he best to keep the one he uses here in England, or is there a better way of handling this?
Same goes for mobiles I guess.
Wifey and I just don't want him to be paying over the odds for these things.
Thank you in advance.

Nebulous2

How will he get paid? In France in Euros? Then he would probably be better with a French account and credit card. He could consider keeping UK accounts open, at least initially, but he will need to convert money to pay it.

Roaming charges have been dramatically reduced, but he is still likely to be better with two mobile numbers. A French one to phone in France and a UK one with international minutes to phone home. It is possible to get a dual-sim phone to do both in the same phone.

If his club is used to signing international players and has any brits there already he should get some advice there, either formally from the club or informally from others who have trod that path before him.

Congratulations by-the-way. That sounds like an exciting opportunity and a great achievement.

knightstyle

Tell him to get a payg sim card from LeClerc and top it up as he goes.
Also get a simple bank account from La Poste to use in France.
If he wants a credit card then get a Halifax Clarity in the UK registered to a UK address, use it to pay everything in France and settle in full each month.
Alternatives include getting a sim card from Toggle and a bank account from Credit Agricole whose cheapest account is not publicised and called L'Autre cart.
Make sure he has good medical insurance, most UK insurances do not cover sports injuries.
I spend a lot of time in France so any other questions please ask.

tidyfinance

Nebulous2 and Knightstyle thank you both for you replies, we appreciate you taking the time to do so. Great advice and I will look into these pointers.
Knightstyle, the club are to pay his insurance so ought to be covered there and the credit card advice is welcomed.
Nebulous2 good point regarding the currency for payment. I can only assume it will be in euros, though not 100% sure so will check with my son. Thanks for the congratulations by the way, he's done well having played international age grade also.
Fingers crossed for a successful period of his young life thus far.
I've told him that my expectations are that he, at the very least, ought to come home speaking fluent French!
Thank you both again.

missbiggles1

The French aren't big on credit cards so better to keep his British ones. There's usually no problem in giving your new address in France when you move.

If he's employed in France, that'll give him entry to the French health service but he may need top up insurance unless his employer covers that. It isn't expensive and will cover sports injuries - it's nothing like taking out private health insurance.

eDicky

He may find Revolut useful instead of a credit card, to use with both pounds and euros, and to avoid fees and bad exchange rates sending money to a UK bank etc.

https://revolut.com