In the May edition of the magazine someone suggested how easy and convenient it was to open a french bank account. Has anyone done this if so how easy was this.
i rang two banks and they both required a personal interview in a French branch before opening account and issueing a french bank debit card which was what i wanted.Even tho they had a branch in London it had to be done in France,might still do it when i,m there in june just for getting fuel at night.
If the only reason that you want a French account is to get fuel "out of hours" French auto pumps are now starting to accept UK Credit cards. I found this for the first time last year. It seems that French banks are now switching to the same PIN system as used in the UK.
Credit Agricol have a department for British customers called Britline which you can open from here. They do need info such as references from your English bank, we have had ours a few years now and find it most useful, we both have debit cards. What you do have to remember though is that you are charged for having an account and cards and going overdrawn is not allowed. We find that this is a good way to bedget for our holiday as we send our money across before we go. I think they have a web site and usually advertise in French Propoerty/Lifestyle magazines.
Thanks for that The trouble with not having the french card is knowing which garages are OK and its sods law that when your nearly empty they wont accept your card :-(
We opened a Credit Agricole Britline account in 2002 and it was very easy. You fill in the usual forms and send certified copies of your passport from the UK (as detailed in SS's link above). They have English speaking staff who are very helpful. You can see your account details on line as well. Crediting money to the account is not always easy if you need to do it in a hurry. It costs about
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