Issue No. 19

The Basics of Banking in
France
There may not be huge differences when it
comes to banking in France and the UK or
other countries, however there maybe
some. Sian Lee-Duclos of CA Britline
explains.
Before looking at the general differences,
let’s break the myth that many people have
that unless you have a French address
(main residence or holiday home) you
cannot open a bank account in France. This
may indeed be the case with some banks,
where their policy doesn't include accounts
for non-French address holders. However
at CA Britline, that's not the case. They offer
an English speaking online banking service
that's open to residents of the UK, Ireland
and France.
Here is a simple guide to banking and how
to avoid the snags and stress that may
occur.
Banks in France
The majority of UK banks, no matter at
which branch you have opened your
account, can provide you with an over-thecounter
service and carry out the requested
transactions on your account, no matter
where you may be in the country.
In France, many banks are co-operative
mutual banks which can be regionalised.
Credit Agricole is one of these. This means
that your account, if held in a branch of
Credit Agricole Normandy, cannot be
visualised, (and therefore managed) in a
region outside Normandy. You will still be
able to use each branch to withdraw cash
from their ATM’s but any day to day
discussions and in-branch management of
your account must be carried out with your
original branch. This can take some getting
used to, especially if you normally do
everything over the counter.
Cheque books
Making payments
Cheques are still commonly used in France
without a cheque guarantee card. It's
important to have funds in your account to
cover the cheque. Postdating a cheque in
France isn't relevant as the beneficiary can
pay it in and it will be processed
immediately. If this happens and you go
overdrawn, you may become what is called
Interdit bancaire and may be banned from
writing cheques for up to 5 years. This may
affect all your French accounts. If it does
happen, contact your branch immediately to
resolve the matter.
Debit cards
Debit cards in France tend to come with an
annual fee (payable monthly or annually).
Debit cards are usually classed as
Immediate or Deferred debit (all payments
being taken on one given date of the month).
Not to be confused with a UK Credit card
which may have similar facilities.