Sorry, can't really help you. But I got fed up pretty early with the French way of banking. I started with CA, but soon realised they were going to be 'high maintenance"for the limited amount of banking we needed them for. So, I switched quickly to Fortuneo and they meet our basic needs (pay bills, take accept money, have free debit card) and they never have to see my ugly face (or me theirs). You might consider them, or other similar options (since you are a Brit and not FATCA plus like me). I really don't need a counsellor at this stage of my life.

 

Thanks. Yes I know where you're coming from. I kinda felt that with the business I ought to set up with a traditional bank, gravitas and all that, and actually I've been happy enough with CA up to now. But 10 euros a month for maybe 2 transactions is a bit steep. But changing banks just seems like so much hassle.
Does Fortuneo offer savings accounts, Livret A and stuff?

 

Yes. We have Livret A.It really wasn't that hard to switch. Fortuneo switched all of our prelevements. We get annual paperwork to do, probably because we're Americans, that you probably wouldn't have. There are others that you can get like N26 and Monabank, but the latter are not for US.

 

Actually, a few years back, when I opened my online account, they had just instituted a new law that says that your new bank has to help you shift over your prelevements, your livret A, etc. etc. to the new account you're opening. This applies only to French billings and accounts and all - but it really does make a huge difference in the ease of opening a new account.

And you may or may not get out of doing the annual paperwork. The EU also has anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion laws that require banks in the EU to establish the tax residence(s) of their customers with foreign connections, especially those outside the EU. I have some Italian friends who have been asked to certify their tax status under the European banking regulations, due to their nationality and/or property holdings in another EU country. It really doesn't take all that much time or trouble to confirm.

 

..//... they had just instituted a new law that says that your new bank has to help you shift over your prelevements, your livret A, etc. etc. to the new account you're opening. This applies only to French billings and accounts and all - but it really does make a huge difference in the ease of opening a new account.

And you could imagine that with that recent protocol it's even easier when you transfer your accounts from one Crédit Agricole to another, thinking that it's the same business ... well, not exactly our experience ...

The new bank agency (CA) explained that they had to create new accounts and quickly transferred all in and out regular payments but the old bank agency (also CA) would not transfer the cash held on the old account so several payments were refused and we had to make regular bank transfers to top up our near empty new accounts. The problem lasted around six weeks and provided insight into CA's internal functioning. Finally no extra charge for us, just a lot of inconvenience

My daughter had the same hassle with the same bank and finally sent them a registered letter demanding written proof that they'd closed her old account. They're apparently very reluctant to close accounts, conserving just a single € and not billing any charges.

CA regularly send me messages via the online account letterbox notifying minor updates to contract conditions but I haven't remarked anything like you described, EuroTrash. I'll take a closer look, however