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Hi there,
I’m hoping to buy a very small apartment in the French alps - for mountain biking in the summer and skiing in the winter. Our offer has just been accepted, so we are hoping to have the keys by July.
Once we do have the keys in our hands, we will have to organise lots of boring stuff, like electricity and telephone etc. I assume that a french bank account would make paying the monthly bills for these things much more simple. But my understanding is that most banks in most countries want you to be a resident (with a verifiable address, utility bills etc etc) before they allow you to open account.
Has anyone been though this journey before? Are some banks better than others? Our apartment will be close to Chatel, so we are guessing that it would be best to pick a bank with a branch there.
Humblebrag alert 😁
Been through this recently but with a business account... tl;dr: forget it.
We got an address in France.
Might be different for personal but I would suggest to just open an account with some online multi-currency place, Wise (formerly Transferwise) or similar. Maybe you can change once you have some bills etc, don't think you need to be a resident.
What they said. Get a Revolut card now to get you going. French bank account opened in person at the local branch when you're there with residential address (don't have to be French resident).
Starling Bank have the option to open a Euro account alongside a Sterling one via their App. You can transfer money between these accounts at a very good exchange rate (very competitive vs Wise) and also make payments, receive money etc. I found it to be the best option when selling some land in Euros.
Nightmare if even possible.
I'd be looking at an account in another Eurozone country (maybe Holland) that you can switch addresses once you have the paperwork
Thanks everyone, and sorry for the brag. Didn’t mean to come across like a dick.
https://housinganywhere.com/France/opening-a-bank-account-in-france
Or find a Uk bank with a presence in France, like HSBC then you maybe get a Frence IBAN and account number even if its not in the locale wher you are going to be. Then change when you get there.
I opened an account with La Banque Postale when I was not living in France and didn’t have a French address. It was the only bank I found that was possible to open an account online. It is a major pain in the arse because sometimes they expect you to be able to drop by the post office with a document, but it allows me to pay various bills by direct debit which is not possible with Starling etc (I think).
EDIT - to be clearer (sorry) not all payees allow you to use a non-French account for DD, e.g. the property tax man.
it allows me to pay various bills by direct debit which is not possible with Starling etc (I think).
Starling do let you do this, my autoroute péage dongle is set up to use this. Dead simple
like HSBC then you maybe get a Frence IBAN and account number even if its not in the locale wher you are going to be
Tried HSBC route for our eldest. No dice. Revolut or similar gets you going. Pop into a local branch in France once you’re there, supply the physical paperwork they request (think opening a UK bank account in the last century) and away you go. Just accept that’s the route to go, no shortcuts.
Revolut is prettyu good. They are a bit up and down with their services though. I try not to keep money in there (they feel "iffy") & rather just drop some cash in when I need to. It once took them four days to do a faster payment.
just drop some cash in when I need to
Wise. Good for shopping and the like. Multiple currencies are handled very well. Can be set up and ready to go from anywhere. You’d never use it like a normal bank account though (well, I wouldn’t). And not a substitute for a French bank account if you are lucky enough to be working or renting there… or top of the tree and buying property there (lucky bugger OP). You need a local bank account. And, realistically, need to be be there to get one.
I opened a Spanish bank account with the banks office in London, worth checking for French equivs as it was ages ago. Tbh now I would just use any account that gets you an iban and just top it up as you go, as you only need an iban for utilities, tax etc.
Hope the purchase goes well.
Different in France. Only paying into, or having bill payments come from, a French bank account is very much still a thing.
Starling or Wise to get you going. I'd avoid Revolut
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/16/fintech-revolut-psychologists-criticism-corporate-culture-uk-banking-licence
move to Northern Ireland for a bit and open one when you're back in the EU.