We Have French Bank Account! (March 2018)

Today was the day for our telephone appointment with BritLine. You may recall we had submitted, over the internet, several documents they required and they had very quickly confirmed all was in order and that a telephone interview was the next step.

So, just a few minutes beyond the appointed time the phone rang and Mégane  introduced herself as our personal advisor.

She asked us to describe our project and, based on this information, proceeded to explain how the account would work. The main points were:

  • Credit Agricole is a regional bank and BritLine are based in Normandy. As we are in the Limousin, we will be able to use local branches for deposits and withdrawals but they will have no access to our account information - I was aware of this so it was not a problem.
  • The chequebook was free, there is no maximum limit but we must have the funds to cover any cheque(s) issued - and they don't need to be presented for over a year (one year and eight days to be precise). If a cheque was rejected due to unavailable funds we would be notified and have 10-days to address the issue - or suffer being blacklisted across the entire French banking system for 5 years! This isn't a major concern for us as Sally is an ex-bank clerk and monitors our accounts assiduously - going overdrawn is something we simply don't do. But I highlight it here as I know some folk do like the flexibility of an overdraft and so need to be very aware of the consequences of being overdrawn.
  • We had a choice of MasterCard or Visa debit card. Mégane said there were no significant differences between the two and the costs were the same. We had no preference and so simply went for the type we had in the UK. Mégane explained the limits on cash withdrawals and purchases. It appears the PIN code I will be issued is fixed - you can't change/personalise them as you can with my UK card. There is an annual charge of €41.00 - I was aware of this so it was not a problem.
  • Mégane talked me through the internet banking. Not something I have used a lot in the past but I do have a little experience and there were no surprises here. Apparently there are 'demo' videos and 'useful information' links on the BritLine site that should help too.
  • Perhaps the most interesting discussion was that regarding the 'options' available. We had noticed, when reviewing the charging structures of the various banks, that BritLine offered 'packages' but were not too clear what these were. Here's my current understanding:
    • There is a standard monthly service charge of €0.90
    • Or you can take a package to which you can add options. If you take the package you do not pay the standard service charge. 
    • The base package costs €2.10 per month and gives you unlimited online access, free transfers and email notifications if you are overdrawn (which, based on what has been said above, you'd definitely want to know).
    • Or, for at total of €6.67 you can take the base package and have card protection.
    • Or, for for a total of €8.04 you can have the base package and have card protection plus a small overdraft facility (€100 or €200).
  • As new customers we had 2 additional benefits:
    • €30 refund on charges after 6 months - I wasn't expecting that; a nice surprise.
    • We could take the base package and all the options for half-price (€4.02). We were going to take the base package and all options other that the overdraft facility (we wanted the card protection) - but with this discount on the full options, that would make no sense in year one; so, 'all options' it is.
Finally, Mégane  asked if we would be interested in a home insurance quote - which we were (perhaps she's been reading the our last blog post 😊).

Within an hour or so of the interview completing we had emails from Mégane summarising what had been discussed and providing us with our RIB (bank details). We used this information to transfer the required opening deposit of €3,000. Now we're awaiting the contract documents and PIN numbers for the internet banking and debit cards - all of which should be with us this time next week.

All in all, from making the initial application and submitting required documents to having the telephone interview and making the initial deposit, everything seems to have gone extremely smoothly - and no surprises (well, only nice ones).


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