2. Which French Bank?

1. 2.1. High Street Banks
   2.2. International Banking
   2.3. Internet Banks
   2.4. Which Bank?

2.2. International & Offshore Banking

If you wish to run your banking affairs from the UK, then you will find that all of the major UK banks offer an international bank account facility. These accounts may be either Sterling or Euro based.

Whilst the rules do vary, many require a high minimum balance and fees can mount. You will also find that interest rates are generally better with a Sterling account.

If you need to have access to a branch office in France, then both Barclays and HSBC have a presence in most of the major cities.

However, although Barclays Bank offers an international banking service, the branch network in France is very limited.

Barclays is one of the few banks to offer reasonable interest on current accounts, but their bank charges seem to be higher than most.

The branch network at HSBC is higher, with about 700 branches in the country, but they have tough conditions on minimum balances.

If you do so, you can probably open a Euro account alongside your existing home bank account. On this basis, you should be able to withdraw cash from French ATMs using a Euro debit card, without incurring a foreign exchange charge. However, expect to pay a cash withdrawal fee.

Most of the larger UK building societies also offer internet based international bank accounts, with generally attractive rates of interest and lower fees. Nevertheless, their focus is on savings, rather than day to day banking, so not all will offer a cheque book or international debit/credit card. Normally, you would need a UK postal address before you opened an account, but you would be allowed to keep it when you relocated abroad.

Finally, you may want to consider an offshore bank account, where there is the possibility of being granted a higher degree of privacy over your financial affairs.

However, particularly in the case of offshore accounts in the UK (Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey) you will need to provide plenty of supporting evidence about yourself and your place of residence, banking charges may not be inconsiderable, and interest rates on savings are often less attractive.

The key advantage of banking offshore is that it is possible to escape the reporting requirements of the European Tax Directive, through the payment of a 'witholding tax' on interest earned on savings.