What did I miss?
Recommend me a French bank
- Thread starter Quartz
- Start date
What did I miss?
Their response will be the terms and conditions you agreed to.
I think he was getting at what I was thinking too, you can't just go and open an HSBC Premier Account unless you have:
- 50k in savings/investments with them
or
- Earn 100k a year and have a mortgage or insurance product with them
So whilst I'm sure many here would qualify I'm also betting plenty don't
I think he was getting at what I was thinking too, you can't just go and open an HSBC Premier Account unless you have:
- 50k in savings/investments with them
or
- Earn 100k a year and have a mortgage or insurance product with them
So whilst I'm sure many here would qualify I'm also betting plenty don't
Or you can pay a £5 monthly fee for a personal international current account. The point being there are plenty of options that do not require opening an account with a foreign bank.
I'd stay away from HSBC, Worlds local bank my arse, they ream you out every time you travel now.
I used to have all my accounts with them and after they changed their terms they started charging me for using my cards abroad. I travel allot and often live as an Expat and HSBC are dreadful, stopping cards while your abroad, security calls at 4am and once actually even cancelling one out right on me while I was living in Korea and saying I had to use the new one they were sending to my house thousands of miles away with no-one at home to forward it on to me.
I switched to nationwide (all my accounts and my mortgage as well) and HSBCs customer support weren't even bothered until 6 weeks after I switched then they were started offering 6 months of "special terms" which were no better then nationwide offer as standard.
If you aren't going to be resident in another country then the FlexPlus account from nationwide ticks all the right boxes free cash machine withdrawals free credit card purchases and the items included in the £10 fee are the best available with Phone issuance, breakdown, cover travel insurance and all the other gubbins.
Only get an account in country if your going to live there and need a local bank account for bills and things they can be surprisingly difficult to shut down afterwards some time.
I used to have all my accounts with them and after they changed their terms they started charging me for using my cards abroad. I travel allot and often live as an Expat and HSBC are dreadful, stopping cards while your abroad, security calls at 4am and once actually even cancelling one out right on me while I was living in Korea and saying I had to use the new one they were sending to my house thousands of miles away with no-one at home to forward it on to me.
I switched to nationwide (all my accounts and my mortgage as well) and HSBCs customer support weren't even bothered until 6 weeks after I switched then they were started offering 6 months of "special terms" which were no better then nationwide offer as standard.
If you aren't going to be resident in another country then the FlexPlus account from nationwide ticks all the right boxes free cash machine withdrawals free credit card purchases and the items included in the £10 fee are the best available with Phone issuance, breakdown, cover travel insurance and all the other gubbins.
Only get an account in country if your going to live there and need a local bank account for bills and things they can be surprisingly difficult to shut down afterwards some time.
I think he was getting at what I was thinking too, you can't just go and open an HSBC Premier Account unless you have:
- 50k in savings/investments with them
or
- Earn 100k a year and have a mortgage or insurance product with them
So whilst I'm sure many here would qualify I'm also betting plenty don't
I think he was being a dick in retrospect. You can pay for one of those accounts if you don't earn enough, he could also open a French HSBC account - you can still get 'free' transfers between HSBC accounts with an ordinary one... and you'll still get screwed on the fx rate whether 'premier' or not. Though why the OP would need to visit a French bank isn't clear in the first place. From what he's posted it is fees for spending/withdrawing cash that is the issue...
Last edited:
Good luck trying to get a French bank, if you don't actually live in France. We have lived here 8 years and I think you may find it very hard. HSBC maybe different, but traditional french high street branches can be a real pain to join.
If you do want to try, Fortuneo are an internet only bank, and have a decent setup. We have banked with LSL and BNP while here and both were terrible. Exorbitant fee's and the usual terrible customer service. Whereas Fortuneo have been very good, the only issue with them is its hard to deposit cash, but thats something we dont worry about.
If you do want to try, Fortuneo are an internet only bank, and have a decent setup. We have banked with LSL and BNP while here and both were terrible. Exorbitant fee's and the usual terrible customer service. Whereas Fortuneo have been very good, the only issue with them is its hard to deposit cash, but thats something we dont worry about.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Exactly this, it's a 3 minute application process and it's done. Zero fees at all for buying on the card, interest from day withdrawal on withdrawing cash so in reality about half a percent if you pay it off when you get back. Honestly, no need to go opening bank accounts in foreign countries for a twice a year visit. You can also use the Clarity in other countries, too.
I'm something of a stuck record when it comes to this card but it honestly is that good.
Get one then forget about messing around with bank accounts, loading silly prepay mastercards, getting ripped off at Travel agents, blah blah blah.
Yes, lets pay £60 a year, that sounds better than just carrying the right credit card and paying £0 a year.
I look forward to a twelve paragraph response including the complete history of HSBC as a rebuttal
Halifax Clarity + 3 SIM. 3 offers free data roaming (up to 25 GB) with their 'Feel At Home' initiative. http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/phones/feel_at_home#checkallowance
