3. Opening a French Bank Account - Compte Bancaire

1. 3.1. Eligibility
2. 3.2. Types of Account
3. 3.3. Bank Charges
4. 3.4. Application to Open Account

3.1. Eligibility for French Bank Account

Whether you are resident or non-resident you are entitled to open a bank account in France.

Neither do you need to own a home in France to open a French bank account.

If you are non-resident then you would open a compte non-résident.

However, whilst residents have an automatic right to a bank account, this is not the case for non-residents.

You are likely to find that the rules governing the operation of the account as a non-resident are tougher, such as the need to maintain a minimum deposit, and limits on the amount you may be able to transfer each month.

Few High Street French banks will allow you to open an account as a non-resident without actually presenting yourselves in person to them. This is because of the legal obligations imposed upon banks concerning the control of money laundering.

That said, it is possible for residents of the UK and Ireland to open a Crédit Agricole Britline account by post, with CA Normandie.

Most of the Internet Banks also allow non-residents to open an account, but check with them on their residence qualification, if any. Once again, however, expect to have to provide a lot of paperwork to be able to do so.

If you want to remain discreet you can open an account using a pseudonym, provided you are resident, and provided the bank is satisfied about who you really are!

Similarly, a woman, if she so wishes, can open an account using her maiden name.

However, do not assume you can run a secret bank account in France.

This system only provides summary details of the account holder and type of account; it does not provide them access to the operations of the bank account.

Business accounts held in the name of the company are also on the system.

The banks are also required to inform the tax authority of the closure of an account, or change of account holder, and to inform them of funds in the account of a deceased person.

Since 2010 notaires have access to this system, so that they can deal more effeciently with inheritance, divorce and other cases handled by them.

The level of monitoring of customer withdrawals and transactions by the banks themselves has increased significantly in recent years, with the banks required by law to notify the regulatory authorities about 'suspicious' transactions.