Expat Advice: Financial Issues in Cannes, France

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Cannes

Which banks do you use? If you have a local account, which bank do you use? How do you like it? Do you also have an account in your home country? Which bank? Do they charge for ATM withdrawals? Do they charge a lot for international wire transfers? How has it been working with them from abroad? Do you use a special international wire transfer service? Do you use an online bank? If so, tell us about them.

I'm a local, salaried employee. I don't have any property in the states and I have only one investment account. Since my financial transaction needs in the US are limited, I opened an account at a French bank without regard to its expat-oriented nature.

I first went to credit lyonnais who opened an account for me in 10 minutes. I found out later that they were kind of expensive, but the service was pretty decent.

Later when I applied for a mortgage, they outright denied me saying that I had not been a client for long enough (My French fiance and I had a 23% down-payment and we both are software engineers). One of my colleagues had just bought an apartment with a mortgage from credit lyonnais and he had not even been one of their clients. So I had to take a mortgage from another bank (BNP, who proposed a much lower interest rate anyway). In France people almost always do their banking from the same bank where they have their mortgage. So I had to close all of my accounts at credit lyonnais and move all of my money to BNP. Credit Lyonnais charged me to close each account and to transfer the funds from each one to my checking account so that I could finally transfer to BNP. In all I had to pay at least 200 euros to close and transfer my accounts, which I find outrageous.

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French Riviera House Hunting - FRH

We are the best possible negotiator to help our expatriate clients to safely, efficiently and effectively find the right property in the right place in the French Riviera. Whether buying or renting, French Riviera House Hunting's objective is to find the best place for you, making sure that there are no hidden problems in the acquisition or renting process!
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Click connect to have our partner contact you via e-mail and/or phone.

What advice would you offer others about banking as an expat in your country? What do you wish you had known about banking when you first arrived?

I've lived in two Europeen countries and the banking experiences have been both different and similar. As opposed to the US, there is a well-established practice of using automatic payment for bills. At first, this seems like a convenience, until you want to stop the payment. With checks, we have total control of how much, to whom, and when. In France, I set up an automatic payment for insurance on my account. When I closed the account, I was still being charged the insurance payments (on a closed acount - go figure). I was told that I had to send a letter by certified mail to stop the insurance charges.

For transferring money to the US, England was better. I was able to use an international money order which cost about $10. In France nobody seems to have ever heard of such a thing, so I do electronic transfers, but they are more expensive (about $40 with charges on both ends).

In France the banks have a whole list of charges and there is always a monthly charge for your account and for your card.

For Americans, it's a good idea to keep a US bank account open and active. You never know when you might want to buy a present for someone, or give a family member some money, or to pay a bill in the US. It's also a good idea to have a credit card from the US for your return visits (also because credit cards are rare in France - I don't know anybody with one nor how to get one myself). Unfortunately, many US websites will not allow you to use a credit card with a foreign address for payment.

Do you do your own taxes, use a local firm, an expat-oriented firm or does your employer handle this for you (i.e. via an corporate tax firm)?

When I relocated from the US to England, tax services were included in my relocation package. For the first 2 years, the company tax firm handled my taxes. I learned from that and am able to do my own taxes now (thank goodness because I don't have the company-offered tax services any longer)