Basic bank acount recommendations please

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GuyJ
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Basic bank acount recommendations please

Post by GuyJ »

I am looking for a basic, cheap bank account to run my holiday home bills from. Nothing fancy just a cheque book and bank card. I have tried Boursarama but they want a minimum payment per month which doesn't suit.
martyn94
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Re: Basic bank acount recommendations please

Post by martyn94 »

GuyJ wrote:I am looking for a basic, cheap bank account to run my holiday home bills from. Nothing fancy just a cheque book and bank card. I have tried Boursarama but they want a minimum payment per month which doesn't suit.
There are cheap options if you can do without a cheque book. Otherwise I'm not sure it's worth worrying much. If I'm right, and you stay in the black, the major expense is the fee for the card (?€30 a year).

You can get an account at ING (very similar to Boursorama) without a monthly minimum payment if you maintain a minimum balance of € 5000 across all their products, which equally may not suit.
Phip3
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La Banquepostale

Post by Phip3 »

I use La Poste ; www.labanquepostale.fr . Does banking on line . Costs about 42 euros per year with a cheque book and card . I had a card which I never used and so I cancelled it a few months ago and they gave me a refund of 35 euros for a part year (about 10/11 months) . Looks as if I'm paying a few euros a year. I pay bills , EDF ,Orange, water, taxe etc., using my British VISA credit card without paying charges and the VISA exchange rate is not bad . Althought this depends on which British bank you are with.
Sus
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Britline

Post by Sus »

We opened a basic account with Britline, monthly cost of 2.10 plus 30 for card per year so far very happy with their service.
martyn94
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Re: Basic bank acount recommendations please

Post by martyn94 »

martyn94 wrote:
GuyJ wrote:I am looking for a basic, cheap bank account to run my holiday home bills from. Nothing fancy just a cheque book and bank card. I have tried Boursarama but they want a minimum payment per month which doesn't suit.
There are cheap options if you can do without a cheque book. Otherwise I'm not sure it's worth worrying much. If I'm right, and you stay in the black, the major expense is the fee for the card (?€30 a year).

You can get an account at ING (very similar to Boursorama) without a monthly minimum payment if you maintain a minimum balance of € 5000 across all their products, which equally may not suit.
A small detail: you pay more for the card if the debits are all done at the end of the month (à debit differé) than if they are done at once (à débit immediat). If you're not waiting on a salary payment, you might as well save the money.
martyn94
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Re: Britline

Post by martyn94 »

Sus wrote:We opened a basic account with Britline, monthly cost of 2.10 plus 30 for card per year so far very happy with their service.
Britline is a trading style of Crédit Agricole Normandie (CA has a sort of confederate structure). There may be extra formalities if you want to use CA branches down here: if you can cope with the French, I'd tend to open my account locally. But they've certainly got bags of branches, as do La Poste (whereas my former bank, BNP, shut down in Port Vendres a few months ago).
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