Advice wanted from expats living in France. (1 Viewer)

Snowbird

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My semi tame professor who is now ensconced in St Genis Poillay, just over the French border from Geneva, has to open a French bank account. Can any of you knowledgeable expats now living in France recommend a French bank that does not charge for an account that is in credit with Euros, and preferably does not charge for Swiss frank transfers into that account.
Also, do French banks charge for a debit and credit card, as long as they are in credit ?.
 
Apr 28, 2013
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Credit Agricole has been my bank of choice for 18 years,fair,no charges whilst in credit,easy online checking.
No charge for basic cards.
Sorry don’t know about Swiss transfers.
 
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Snowbird

Snowbird

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Credit Agricole has been my bank of choice for 18 years,fair,no charges whilst in credit,easy online checking.
No charge for basic cards.
Sorry don’t know about Swiss transfers.

Thanks for that. Credit Agricole was one of the top on our list of banks to visit today.

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spitfire

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Credit Agricole has been my bank of choice for 18 years,fair,no charges whilst in credit,easy online checking.
No charge for basic cards.
Sorry don’t know about Swiss transfers.
I have been with Credit Agricole for 14 years and am charged a monthly fee and for our cards . Which area are you in because each one is separate by area .
 
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I have been with Credit Agricole for 14 years and am charged a monthly fee and for our cards . Which area are you in because each one is separate by area .
Same charges here in area 22
 
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Snowbird

Snowbird

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He is living in area 01, although working over the border in Switzerland and being paid in Swiss francs.

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Pete5996

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I'm with CA in Midi-Pyrenees. I pay about €6/month for a current account and my debit card is €39/year. It seems to be the norm here for current accounts to have a monthly charge.
I've recently made a SEPA transfer to the UK and it was just €4.10 which was a pleasant surprise.
 
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I'm with Credit Agricole too. Not our local branch but the Britline one in Normandy. They have fluent English speakers on the phone if help needed.

We pay around €4 a month for our service and about €24 a year for a debit card.

We transfer sterling from UK into the CA account using Currencies Direct who are the best rate we have found. CD son't charge for a transfer and CA don't charge to receive it.

Banks mostly in France are not like our UK ones. They are franchise outfits so popping into a branch anywhere other than your home one does not mean they will be able to access your account. I once tried paying a French cheque into a local CA and it took over a week to appear in our account. Now find it quicker to post any cheques to Normandy.
 
Apr 28, 2013
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I have been with Credit Agricole for 14 years and am charged a monthly fee and for our cards . Which area are you in because each one is separate by area .

We are in 16,Charente.Not britline just standard account.

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Snowbird

Snowbird

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The deed is done with CA, 7.9 Emus per month plus 39.90 per year for the debit card. Thanks for all the help.
 

Ridgeway

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As he's a "Frontalier" the common method is by using a Suisse account to receive his salary and then make transfers to his French € account.

I would suggest he visits a BCGE branch in Geneva who are quite experts at this, no one likes paying tax here:)

He's aware he pays taxes in CH though ? I assume he has a Permis G ?

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Snowbird

Snowbird

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As he's a "Frontalier" the common method is by using a Suisse account to receive his salary and then make transfers to his French € account.

I would suggest he visits a BCGE branch in Geneva who are quite experts at this, no one likes paying tax here:)

He's aware he pays taxes in CH though ? I assume he has a Permis G ?

Correct, he is a Frontalier. As he is employed by CERN with diplomatic status, he is tax free in Switzerland and his French bank also have confirmed today that he will also be tax free in France.

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Ridgeway

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Likely he's a permit Ci then, either way it's correct that he won't pay tax, in fact he doesn't even declare what his earnings are and the tax authority aren't allowed to ask.

As for the banks the main point is going to be service charges and exchange rate fluctuations. The b-Sharpe reference seems to get some good reviews and is pitched as cost saving.
 

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