Wednesday 14 August 2013

French banking - sigh

Just had a conversation with our English speaking french banking advisor which I need to write down while I remember and to share with you because it is another French weirdness.

We belong to Banque Populaire. Apparently we actually belong to Banque Populaire Occitane which has nothing whatever to do with the Banque Populaire which is now local to us. (Incidentally when I referred to the bank where we set up the account as 'our branch' it apparently isn't, she is our advisor and therefore she is 'our branch' - who knew.)

In order to get a few thousand euros in cash for whatever reason, we would have to organise a transfer to a branch of the local BP which costs 18 euros. (Pause while Him Outdoors has a fit about having to pay to get his own money out of his own bank.) The advisor has to arrange a special transfer of money because the local branches no longer keep cash for security reasons (!)

We each have a card to use in a hole in the wall. With this you can take out 900 euros each, each week and so accumulate the required amount.

But only if you send our advisor an email telling her what it is being spent on, so that she can explain the activity in our account. (More HO fit - what bloody business is it of theirs what we spend our money on.)

Envisioning the 'fits' this made me laugh on the phone which obviously deeply upset the French advisor - sorry.

2 comments:

  1. Don't talk to us about French banks! Nothing as annoyingly weird as that, but DH and I still can't get over the recent extremely expensive and prolonged refitting of our local branch of Credit Agricole, which resulted in extra cash machines and the branch only being open two half-days a week instead of four and a half full ones. Sigh....

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  2. It took my French bank ten days to be able to hand me over cash - reasons of security, of course.....let alone the mad system for making transfers!

    Between fits and blood pressure rising like a ballistic missile our general health has improved dramatically once no longer dealing with French banking....at least, not on a regular basis.

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