Ka Ora!

All the banks seem to leave to the customer to do the contacting, When we first used CA they used to phone us if there was not enough money in the bank to cover a check. That went out the window they just charge now.

Nibbler

Hello,
If you want a similiar "type" bank, go for HSBC...good internet banking
make a appointment,read the 20 pages of terms and sign...
no problems....!!!
one thing i hate is that the branch you open the account is the only branch that will help you...no walking into a branch 200 miles away and expect the s
same service or help
good luck

Bellahand

When I first moved to Paris in 2008 (I couldn't speak French back then), I opened an account with the nearest bank to my flat which was LCL. It was a small branch and nobody spoke English so opening the account was a long process which involved lots of confusion and little pictures being drawn!!!! They insisted that I MUST take assurance d'habitation through them by law which (looking back) was totally wrong of them and really played on the fact that I couldn't speak French very well, didn't know the system and trusted their advice. I took the 'expensive' insurance and when I moved in with a friend 2 months later, LCL failed to cancel the insurance as I had asked. Infact, it took a year and a half to finally get this insurance cancelled but they've since given me my money back.

I find that now my French is better, I am VERY direct with my bank and when I am like this, I find that they provide a very good service. I've often been initially told that something is not possible, I insist that it is and they suddenly change their mind!!!

I totally agree that it's difficult to 'rank' the French banks as it depends upon the region / branch more than the company as a whole. I popped into an LCL at Menilmontant the other day and received a wonderful service but have received quite the opposite at the Chemin Vert branch. I find it relatively easy to contact my branch with a direct number to my advisor - I leave a message if she isn't there and she always calls me back within 2 hours.

le plumber

I think that applies to everyone in France

Roger O

We've been with Crédit Mutuel (Mediterannée) in Perpignan since 1992 (when we were still living in Switzerland). Since then, we've moved to Antibes, Le Soler (near Perpignan) and lastly to Palaja (near Carcassonne). We've never had any problem, rather the opposite. Their telebanking and dowloading account transactions to Cybergestion for budget control works every time.

However, we've always dealt with them in French from the word "go" so no language problems. I have more language problems when I phone my daughter's HSBC branch in Victoria Station (London) as she, though practically bilingual in English, can understand neither the sales person (who is of Chinese origin) nor the two girls at the counter (of Indian origin) and even I who worked in service industries all my life tending to worldwide clients have a hard time! Goodness knows how tourists speaking minimal school English get on with that "customer service"!

Down in Newton Abbot, Devon, equivalent to some small town "out in the sticks" in France, a French friend on holiday - which turned into a sabbatical at South Devon Tech - couldn't find any bank to help him in French either (big surprise!) when he had a problem - He finally came back after a year speaking some kind of broad Devon dialect that sounded like Farmer hayseed with a French accent! I'm originally from Torquay where there are even a few french speakers in shops (!) so I wonder where he picked up his English..

All things are relative....

south_bound

I've just given up on LCL and started changing regular payment instructions after they messed up once too many times. Despite speaking plainly to then about our dissatisfaction, the agent repeated again that she had done her bit and that its not her fault that the head office doesn't do its work and doesn't even reply to her messages! That doesn't exactly give confidence in the organisation.

I have opened accounts (both current and savings) with ING Direct - all online with no fuss or bother. You print off the one page application form and send off with the proof of identity and they send you back the RIBs, cheque book and carte bleu. There is always someone at the end of the phone, although I've only spoken to them in French so don't know if there is an English helpline at all.

le plumber

I think you're right, on-line banks have a lot to offer. I may just test the water before jumping in at the deep end but I must admit that after a lot of research, I've found them to be very competitive. I'm only hesitating because of the professional account and a lot of the time it's best if the person looking after your account is within whacking range. Otherwise for personal accounts I wouldn't hesitate at all



EDIT: By the way how do you go about putting cheques & cash into an on-line bank account??

south_bound

Yes, I'm keeping the LCL account open long enough to make sure that all is working as it should online. The carte bleu can be used at any ATM in Europe fee-free, but I must admit I haven't asked myself whether that applies to paying in as well - I will need to check, but it could be a pain to have to keep LCL open just to pay in and then transfer to the online account. Cash isn't a problem as we would spend it directly, so depends if you get lots a cheques (I suppose you do if your using it for business).

I've also seen adverts for another online bank (Bourserama??) but didn't look into them. I went for ING as I have used them in other countries and always been impressed, as I have been with First Direct (part of HSBC) in the UK for over 20 years, first as a telephone bank and now online.

Martin Parker

I closed my account with Barclays, despite the good service as the nearest branch was over an hours drive away in Toulouse. Paying in cheques was fine, just send them by post, but cash was either drive to the branch or pay onto another account and transfer across.

Now with CA for both personal and business and had no problems at all.

le plumber

I think I've found a new bank - Credit Mutuel. Had a RDV at the local branch today and I was pleasantly surprised. Competitive, friendly and professional - what else do you want??

I also like the idea that they are not commissioned on services they "sell" to you and for loans and other projects they don't have to send the "dossier" to head office for someone to approve - its all done in the local branch by the people you know and see.
Of course two years on from now I may be singing another tune, but I very much doubt it..............can't wait to tell Credit Agricole where to get off

Hawthorn

I found Caisse D'Epargne very helpful. With the help of a french speaking friend, I made an appointment in Montreuil-sur-Mer, so within half hour drive of Bolougne. Being self employed with self assessment and no accountants verification, I was doubtful that I would be able to open an account. But, having presented copies of UK bank statements and my worksheets showing income, I was told to go away for a couple of hours while they 'process it'. On returning I was quite surprised that I had been given an account, and an English speaking account manager.

After I had transfered a sizeable sum into the account a couple of months prior to purchasing a property, the account manager emailed me to suggest putting it into a savings account, which I thought was pretty good service. My account also has internet banking.

The only downside is that they are regional and if I am in Normandy, the branches there cannot access my account details easily, nor can I set up a business account with the nice man in Montreuil as we are out of his area. But this seems to be a trait of all the banks in France - they just dont seem to be national.

Good luck with it all

Herman

We opened a Credit Agricole bank account from the UK (they had an office in London for that purpose, not sure if still the case) back in 2005 when we bought a ski apartment in France but were living in London. The account is actually based at a Normandy branch and the service is called "Britline", an English speaking service. So when we moved to France in 2008 we just carried on using this bank account. Never had any issues and I find them very helpful. Having English staff to deal with helps nurture my continuing laziness with the French language but for money matters I prefer to be understood. I would note though that we do not do any branch based banking. We pay cheques in by post, do transfers online or by phone/email to the branch and have a cheque book and debit card for living expenses. Works very well and when I had a very large mystery payment to a US store hit the account one day last year they sorted it out quickly with no fuss by email and phone. Far better customer experience than we ever enjoyed from UK banks.

Chapelgirl

We are with BNP Paribas. We opened the account when we were visiting France but before we had become residents, so it started off with a UK address and we got it changed when we moved house.

We mainly use their online service to check our account etc. The screens are nowhere near as sophisticated as some of the UK online banking services, but they give you basic transaction and balance information.

I do not know if this is common to all banks in France but they do not send out cheque books or cards in the post and you have to go and collect them, which for us is an hour's round trip. We had a cheque book waiting at the branch for several weeks. I had a call from the "new manager" so while she was on the phone I asked her to confirm the book was still there, as we would collect it the following week. She said it was. When we got there the counter staff said no, it wasn't. It had probably been shredded. So a wasted trip, another ordering process, another wait, and another round trip. Incidentally, when we collected the book there was probably also a bank card waiting there for my husband next to the cheque book, but he did not ask, so they did not volunteer the information.

If you are a UK married couple and you want a joint account you will need to take your marriage certificate with you as well as your passports, since the UK passport does not show the wife's maiden name. This fact has caused much puzzlement and even some amusement with various official bodies including the Prefecture and the bank.

Another feature of BNP is that if you do any internet shopping using your bank card they now have an extra "security feature" whereby they send a code number to your mobile phone by SMS and you have to enter it before your transaction will be accepted. We live in a mobile phone black hole and did not even have a mobile phone until quite recently due to the cost. There is no alternative system for non-mobile phone users so this is an inconvenience. The bank manager's response? A verbal Gallic shrug.

(We now have a mobile, since we discovered Leclerc's pay-as-you-go SIM, but we're still in a mobile black hole.)

le plumber

Credit Agricole did that until I asked them to send stuff by the post, and they accepted without any fuss - no wonder really they charge a fortune for the trouble. What got on my wick two months ago was that they sent new cheque book and new card away at the same time, both arrived on the same day but in different envelopes. I was charged twice and it came to about 23€!!
Bloody cheek!!

Vesoul, you're not that far from me. Not many Brits in Franche-Comte - did you get lost or something??

L'Acajou

Our CA woes just get worse, I realised yesterday that my bank card for my day-to-day account had expired at the end of May, no worries, I thought, just popped into my branch this morning to collect the new one, only to be told by the mystified clerk that one hadn't been ordered, even though, as we all know, it is "automatique"..... Lucky we have other accounts (and not all with CA!) We can manage the "10-15 days" delay, but that type of service is quite shocking We are running out of patience.