Opening a checking account in France

For the fourth time since we got here, we attempted to open a checking account. Why would we even want a checking account, you might ask. Three reasons:

1.              We wanted “chip and PIN” credit cards (more on that later).

2.              We wanted to have some permanence to our cell phone account, rather than buy-as-we-go SIM cards. One must have a checking account in order to obtain a cell phone contract.

3.              To pay our landlady by check, and to minimize transfer costs from our US bank account.

   On our first attempt, we presented our passports and rental agreement to the bank person. “And where do you work in France?” We pointed out that our visitor’s Visa explicitly forbids us from working in France, and that we had to prove that we were able to support ourselves without work. Non. “no job, no checking account, no exceptions”

   On our 2^nd attempt, the conversation was brief:  Non.  We were then advised to try the Post Office. In France, le Bureau de Poste also provides banking functions, and we were told that all we would need are passports and rental agreement proving that we lived somewhere in Paris.

So, our 3^rd attempt at le Bureau de Poste at first went smoothly – until we were asked for our Renters Insurance. We were told the rules are complicated. Renters insurance is required to open a checking account (!?)  We provided him with a copy of our US Renters Insurance policy, and a letter from State Farm stating that the insurance fully follows us to France. Non. The policy must be written in French.

So finally, our fourth attempt:  Our landlady spoke to someone at her bank, and learned that non-residents could open a non-resident bank account IF they could provide passports, rental contract, and proof that they pay taxes in a different country. So off to the bank we went, armed with our documents.

            “Non” we were told. “America has a new law forbidding Americans from opening foreign bank accounts (!!!???).  We explained in our fractured French that we are living here, we have been told explicitly by a member of your bank that such a non-resident account is possible.  “Ah, you actually live here. You are not just visiting.” Right. There was a breakthrough. She relented and transformed from gatekeeper to sales person, showing us pretty brochures of the various accounts and credit cards (they are actually debit cards, but they are called carte de credit.)  We then witnessed the transformation of several board-feet of paper into more fine print than a law firm’s incorporation documents. After 20 minutes of nearly constant printing by the laser printer, we began to wonder how many more trees would have to die for this endeavor.

We did emerge with a checking account, and our chip and PIN cards would arrive at the bank in a few days.  Now we could then move on to Orange (France’s answer to Verizon) to convert our smart phones to French smart phones. We presented our passports, rental agreement, AND our new bank account number and Voilà! We had smart phones with brain transplants!

A word about credit cards:

The rest of the world is way ahead of the US on this one. The magnetic stripe on US cards is old technology. The rest of the world has converted to chip and PIN which is difficult to use if stolen, and difficult to counterfeit. Although most vendors in France have credit card readers that will accept cards with magnetic stripes, many do not. Most ATM machines in Europe will not accept cards with only a magnetic stripe.

The preferred card has an embedded computer chip that not only stores data, but also performs encrypted data processing. We tried unsuccessfully to obtain chip and PIN cards prior to leaving the US.  We were able to obtain a hybrid – chip and sign card (even though there is a PIN). This card has a chip and a magnetic stripe. That means it can be read by all the vendors, but a signature is required rather than a PIN. So if the card is stolen, it can be used with a fake signature. However, it cannot be used in an ATM unless the thief also has the PIN. Soon we will have our French cards, and I will worry a little less about our cards being stolen.

For more information about how credit cards work, check out this description of the technology.

  

We are making headway here.  Today Jessica got a loyalty card at Monoprix, the Paris approximation of Target, and successfully maneuvered self check-out en Français.