2. Which French Bank?

1. 2.1. French Banks
2. 2.2. International/Offshore Banking
3. 2.3. Online Banks
4. 2.4. Which Bank?

2.1. French Banks

There are eight main banks in France, as follows:

• Crédit Agricole (CA)
• BNP Paribas
• Société Générale
• Caisse d‘Epargne (CE)
• Banque Populaire (BP)
• Crédit Mutuel
• La Banque Postale
• LCL

Since 2003 LCL (formerly Crédit Lyonnais) has been owned by Crédit Agricole, although it continues to operate a separate branch network.

Likewise, in 2009 Caisse d’Epargne and the Banque Populaire merged their activities (now called 'Groupe BPCE'), although they are continuing to operate their retail branch networks as separate entities.

Credit Mutual has a national subsiduary bank called CIC (Crédit Industriel et Commercial) that operates a separate branch network.

International buyers may also be familiar with Crédit Foncier the specialist mortgage arm of Caisse d'Epargne. Crédit Foncier has a branch office in London.

BNP Paribas are also owners of Abbey France, a former subsiduary of Abbey National, now subsumed under their mortgage subsiduary BNP Paribas International Buyers.

It may surprise you to learn that the largest bank by number of customers and branch network is the French post office, who call their bank 'La Banque Postale'.

Not only is its branch network larger than all the others put together, but it has generally offered the cheapest rates. Until January 2009 it also had exclusive rights (along with Caisse d’Epargne) to a popular and attractive savings scheme called Livret A. La Poste is also open on a Saturday morning, which is not always the case with the other banks.

On the downside, the amount you can withdraw from La Poste without prior notice is generally lower than other banks, their international money transfer system lags behind other banks, and transfers within the EU are more expensive than other banks. The level of customer service within some of the older and busier post offices can also be poor.

Crédit Agricole will be more widely known by most readers. It operates on a mutual basis with 41 regional banks in which CA is the major shareholder.

A map of the regional structure of Crédit Agricole is available by visiting the website of Crédit Agricole .

Whilst these regional banks are ultimately part of the same group, Crédit Agricole is not a national branch network in the same manner as the other banks.

Although you will be able to use, withdraw and pay in at a Crédit Agricole ATM machine and branches throughout the country at no extra charge, there are slight differences in charging policies between the regions.