How dare you want to use your own moneyš¤
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Oh dearā¦ there is so much discussed when one opens an accountā¦ itās easy to miss some of the details.
There is a good reason for having a ceiling on the debit cards, although initially it is particularly lowā¦ which can shock foreigners (such as I am/was).
However, I can re-assure you that a simple conversation with your Bankā¦ and the ceiling can be raised ājust like thatāā¦ been there/done that.
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Iām intrigued to know what this is in 2022. In 1982 I can think of 50 good reasons at least, now, while Iām sure there are some, Iām not entirely sure what they are. Stuff like card fraud can basically be discounted as tech has should have made the need obsolete, so other than making it cheaper for the bank, which is really is none of my concern since I pay for the account, isnāt valid from a consumer perspective. A British bank where I have āfreeā banking I could appreciate, every penny the bank pays out due to my actions has to be clawed back in some other way, but then they get interchange fees so they do actually make money when I use my card.
Iām just thinking out loud here, Iām not actually expecting you to answer @Stella although of course if you do have some insight please do, but it does seem rather an odd concept to me in this day and age, although of course like cheques it seems like itās something older generations of people in France are still keen on so Iām not necessarily suggesting it should change anytime soon.
anti-fraud measure, perhaps? Iām comfortable with that.
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Surely itās because it is illegal to go go overdrawn in France without a prior arrangement, so itās to help clients stay in credit. Bit like gambling online, setting limits to how much can spend.
Certainly friends of ours in the early days had a scenario were they were expecting money from the UK. It didnāt arrive. In the meantime, theyād spent it here. Bank of France moved in and they a/c was closed. It all got very hairy for a while.
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The ceiling is there to protect the account holder āfrom themselvesā and also to protect the account itself if the card is stolen. Thatās how I understand thingsā¦ but check out this linkā¦
Pour chaque carte bancaire , il existe un plafond , cāest-Ć -dire un seuil de retrait ou de paiement Ć ne pas dĆ©passer sur une pĆ©riode donnĆ©e (par jour, par semaine ou par mois).
Le but : sƩcuriser au maximum vos finances.
Plafond de carte bancaire : comment Ƨa marche ? ā LeLynx.fr.
Incidentally, if a card is ārejectedā instore for exampleā¦ the chequebook comes out with a flourish and all is well againā¦ phewā¦ been there, done that as well. (with burning cheeks, so embarrassing)
Iām cringing hard at this, but of course different cultures have different ideas. As I said, I can understand amongst older customers this makes perfect sense, in 2022 with crypto and NFTs and Web3 I would be surprised if there was much support among younger customers to be protected āfrom themselvesā, stuff like the blockchain was created as much because of thinking like this. Iām not arguing one way or the other myself btw, it just seems like an extraordinary statement in the 21st century. But as I say, different cultures and all that.
Yes, so this comes back to the bank helping its own situation potentially to the detriment of its paying customers. If thereās fraud it the banks problem. Again, not making a judgment whether itās right or wrong, just trying to learn!
Iāve given the best answer I canā¦ and possibly/probably not covered it all.
Anyone not happy with their Bank and/or wishing to learn the whyās and whereforeās ā¦ should go and discuss things face-to-face as I reckon this will probably be a useful exercise.
Iāve not found anything which suggests plafonds on bank cards are age-related.
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Sorry, I probably worded it badly, I wasnāt suggesting that it was, rather just that unless there are specific legal reasons like @SuePJ has suggested, I canāt really imagine the practice of having them would be around in 10 years time, cheques may take a little longer because of the sheer numbers that are used but I canāt see them lasting either, as for better or worse younger people in France tend to want a more U.K. or US type banking experience,
France was one of the first countries to jump on the fintech bandwagon but has dropped behind the U.K. these days, but the numbers of neobanks, and the numbers of companies like Revolut, Bunq, N26, that are growing offering a very different service to the traditional banks worldwide. Iād have never have imagined there would be so many āfreeā accounts for starters, thatās just not something France does, but there are dozens and dozens of them now which is incredibly surprising.
Iām not sure any of the French owned services, either the banks flanker brands or fintechs, have quite hit the sweet spot yet of doing what the traditional banks do so well but with an approach for the 2020ās, but when they do it will be very interesting to see how things turn out.
Absolute rubbish! It isnāt older customers that need āprotecting from themselvesā!!
I never suggested it was? No one does, that was my point. But rather just that older generations who have perhaps had these rules for 40 years perhaps just accept that this is what happens and are less likely to say āthis is arcane and overly controlling, it needs changing nowā, than an 18 year old coming to the rules and saying āwtf are the bank not allowing me to spend my own money?ā Perhaps not but if the entire country had been screaming for this to be changed for years it likely would have, which suggests people have been broadly happy with it.
I think I should perhaps use less words in my comments as often it seems like often people misunderstand what Iām saying, Iām sure itās not people not reading them properly so it must be my phrasing.
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It must be remembered that the card has a ceiling, but the chequebook does not.
So long as the funds are in the account when you actually write the chequeā¦ and still there when the cheque hits the accountā¦ all is well.
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or have a facility - although, this is quite bizarreā¦ if you maintain a good balance in your account, the bank will - without asking - often provide a facility to go overdrawn. If you maintain the account with a measly balance, they seem not to - go figureā¦
Ah yesā¦ that old chestnutā¦ itās galling but there it is.
It seems that folk who do have a regular amount going into the accountā¦ are more likely to be offered a āfacilityā than those who have sums (even large ones) every now and again.
I suppose the Banks have to make judgements about to whom they make these offersā¦ and they must have some sort of criteria.
TBH itās nice to see another person grumbling about the petty limits, poor facilities and expense of French retail banking. Itās funny you should mention 1982 Kirstea as thatās exactly pretty much where I see the level of modernity here. In fact sometimes I toss up between 1977 and 1982.
Ref the expense of French retail bankingā¦
There is the government website which allows you to compare the charges of all the banks so at least their costs are transparent
https://www.tarifs-bancaires.gouv.fr
and the Cheerful News is: here in France, one is more likely to be able to visit a Bank locally and speak with a real person, face to face, than one is in UKā¦ hurrah.