michele Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 We would like to open a French bank account . Can anyone tell if they have already done this ? If so what did you have to do . Can you open from here in England ? Can you open on the web . Can anyone advise which is a good bank to open an account with I see there are so many like England not sure which one . I think it's the Credit Agricole that is for famers again have no idea . can anyone advise please ........ cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 AFAIK you must be resident in France to get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Hi Michele An interesting question. I'm sure there will be a number of Forum contributors who will have first hand knowledge of this one. For our purposes (living in UK, visiting France & other Euroland countries) we have an account in Euros, run and fed from the UK. It provides debit card/s, for use in shops and ATMs in €, in Euroland, free of 'commission' costs or dubious rates of exchange. It can be topped up in £stg , converted at 'commercial' rates, not tourist - which means you get more Euros for your money.....all helps. However, remember whether your account is in France or UK, or if in any foreign currency, in fact, you will be subject to rate fluctations - up and down, so it's all a bit of a gamble....! If you would like more info on the Euro account, please PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 When we opened our Credit Agricole account here we were NOT resident nor did we have a property. As we came on holiday 3 times a year we asked if we could open an account and there was no problem, just needed Passports, Birth certificates and Marriage certificate. Our Daughter and our Friends are not resident in France but have Credit Agricole accounts. Credit Agricole used to be for Farmers but now its for anyone. If you do a search on the web for Credit Agricole you will find that they have an English department that will give you more details. Barclays also have branches in France and this again you will find on the web. There is also the Caisse d'Epergne which is like a building society and there is La Poste which is the French Post Office who will provide you with a debit card and any transfers from GiroBank in the UK (Alliance & Leicester now I think) are made at a very cheap rate. 6 Years ago it was £5 to do a transfer. There is also Societe Generale but I don't know much about them although there is a branch in our local town. Most of the Banks have English speaking staff but you normally have to make an appointment to see them. I don't think that you can sign up with any of these Banks online but I may be wrong. The other thing that you have to remember in France is that if you are Husband and Wife and you have a joint account you are treated as one person. So although the card may be in the husbands' name he doesn't need to be present if the Wife is using the card. This works fine here but when we have used the card in UK and Spain its my Husband who has to use the pin or sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Randonneur - 2007-01-06 8:57 PM When we opened our Credit Agricole account here we were NOT resident nor did we have a property. I'm happy to be corrected. I was really going by posts that I've read in the past on other forums where this has been discussed and that seemed to be the concencus. It would certainly be useful to have a Carte Bleue to get fuel out of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve OReilly Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I ,too, have a French bank account with Credit Agricole. They run a service called Britline which provides information in English. Their telephone number is also answered in English. The website is "www.ca-normandie.fr". We were sent forms which we returned via our British bank for references. The process took a couple of weeks. Our only cost in running the account is an annual payment for two debit cards (49.20 Euros) and the commission for transferring sterling. Until recently the currency transfer commission was paid exclusively to our British bank, but now Credit Agricole has also imposed a charge of 3.05 Euros per transfer. I was interested to read that a previous poster obtains a commercial currency exchange rate as opposed to the tourist rate. My British bank won't oblige except on transfers in excess of (I think) £10k. They charge £10 per transfer up to £2k and more (I think pro rata) for larger sums. We opened the account to provide a means of obtaining fuel at automated pumps outside opening hours and to get Euros in Spain during lengthy winter stays. The convenience outweighed the cost. For the past two years we have been living in France in the motorhome or caravan for up to five months every year so it has now become essential. Friends in Cap d'Agde simply went to a local bank and opened an account. The French are so much more willing and capable of speaking English (American?) now that not speaking French is less of a problem. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 7, 2007 Author Share Posted January 7, 2007 Thanks for everyones help on the subject. It looks like it will be Credit Agricole for us . cheers had a good read of the Britline website . Cheers ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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