I have a French bank account!!

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.

Bob Hope

I wait with baited breadth. The tension is palpable as I enter the establishment. The manager asks me to come into his office. I slowly pad along with my landlady at my side. After offering us a seat, I sit down while trying to maintain a steady rhythm in my breathing. A drop of sweat slowly forms on my forehead and threatens to drip down my nose onto the desk in front of me. My palms are clammy. My head is spinning. I’m in a fog teetering between hope and despair. Will they say yes this time or will this be another in a long series of disappointments? How my emotions ebb and flow so over this potential triumph or crushing defeat. Am I being interviewed for a job? Am I in trouble over an unpaid bill, an overdraft charge? No, I am applying for a bank account in France.

It is true as everyone told me that opening a bank account in France is an illusive, but necessary step to live in France long-term. Even though not strictly legal, most companies in France request a French bank account to pay bills (like cell phone and utilities). While it is possible to use other European banks, obtaining a French bank account is one of those rights of passage.

I had heard a lot of horror stories of the extreme difficulty in obtaining a French bank account. How that many of the banks simply say “Non.” There are many reasons why this is difficult in France. French banking laws require a high degree of confidence in the bank account holder to be who they say they are and that the account will be used for the stated purposes of the account. The local bank manager is also the primary arbiter of granting accounts. This means an applicant needs to prove their identity, their income sources, their residency, their stability, and any other factors the bank manager deems important. Additionally, for Americans, the US tax law places a lot of burden on foreign banks to keep track of transactions and report them to the IRS. This induces a significant financial burden on the banks.

Due to all of these constraints, I was turned down by at least five on-line French banks and a couple of brick-and-mortar banks. I was beginning to wonder if I were ever going to be successful. Then one glorious day, my landlord offered to introduce me to their bank (CIC in this case: https://www.cic.fr/). She helped set-up the appointment with the bank and went with me for the beginning of the appointment. Thankfully, the bank manager also spoke English.

And now I have a French bank account. It’s a Christmas miracle! I will only use the bank account for depositing French income and paying French bills. And CIC provided a bank account with a minimal monthly fee (about 8 Euros/month). I will still use my US travel credit card for most of my day-to-day expenses since I have income from my US pension. But this is one major hurdle completed.

So, the moral of the story is: it’s makes such a difference for a French citizen to introduce you to a French bank manager. This gets over the biggest hurdle every bank manager has to consider: why should they trust you to bank with them. I know it sounds a bit backwards, but the French banking system is very different from other countries. I also noticed there is not really a similar credit scoring service to the FICO score (which originally stood for Fair, Isaac and Company). This makes every account someone is looking to open as if they had to prove their credit worthiness each time.

Here is what I had to provide to open this bank account:

• My passport (to scan in)
• My visa (to scan in)
• Signature sample (yes really)
• Last three months of my US bank account statements
• Apartment lease rental agreement
• Utility statements or attestations (internet, gas, electric)
• Letters of recommendations (yes really)
• US Form W-9 (IRS tax form)
• Etranger registration confirmation

And now I have a bank account that will probably only process a few hundred dollars a month having provided evidence that I don’t really even need the bank account in the first place. I love France! With this and setting up my cell phone to a more permanent service, almost all of the initial big hurdles are completed. It’s now been 5 weeks in Paris. I am humbled and thankful for all those who have helped me prepare and complete these difficult tasks. I have to depend on others regularly to be successful with a smile and patience.

Until we meet in Paris…