Best interest rates

Good morning all :sunflower:,
I am wanting to bring my last of the English money over. It’s currently in an ordinary savings account and I get a whole 0.2% interest bestowed upon it. I’m wondering if it’s possible to leave it there and open an online account or bring it over here. What are interest rates like here? Any thoughts welcome.

Livret À currently gives 2%, think the account max is about €30k

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You can open an account with the Wise (Transferwise as was) online bank, transfer your UK cash into that account and then transfer it into whatever French account you like. Wise IMO give the best exchange rate and lowest transaction costs. It is also blisteringly quick compared to traditional banks, though some seem to have been prodded into improving their service by Wise and other online banks, such as Revolut.

One point of caution, if you leave too much cash sitting in your Wise account they will charge you negative interest, about 0.1% per month If I remember correctly.

Interest rates aren’t great (read poor) here but the way things are going… who know? Rather than good deposit rates we’re all better off with low inflation and good economic growth. :slightly_smiling_face:

That is not the case with Revolut.
There is a link to open a Revolut account on the topic title bar.

Each member of the family can open a Livret A account with the maximum amount and the interest is tax free. The interest on your UK savings are taxable in France and must be declared.

I think the negative interest rate only cuts in at over 10k, so not an issue usually.

I’ve a Revolut account too, I opened it and my Transferwise one when they first launched. All I needed then was transfer so I used Transferwise and when they became a fully fledged bank I preferred the Wise app, though maybe I should go back and have a relook at the Revolut one now.

We used our Wise cards this year in Australia and Oman to avoid our banks’ rip off exchange rate and foreign transaction charges. Which was just as well because in six weeks in Oz I think we used cash on only two occasions. Including on the Gibb River road in the wilderness. Seems Oz dumped cash during Covid and the Government very sensibly forced the banks to pay for the continent wide infrastructure.

(One can only imagine the increase in tax take in Europe if all card transactions was introduced)

The Wise card was excellent, you just tap to pay and bing your phone says you’ve spent XX AUD and it cost you YY Euro :slightly_smiling_face: all at the best rate.

Depends how much and whether you want it tied up or need instant access.

The easiest as others have said are the Livrets, a couple of different types so look at your bank.

We have the sustainable developments ones - €12k max each, 2% interest tax free

And if you have a small income then could be eligible to the Livret LEP which is 4.6%

Large amounts for a long time then you are in assurance vie territory

Oh, and I transfer money via Wise and have a Wise card where i keep a small balance.

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Depending on amounts and your income/tax reference.

Skipton international have some okay rates on 1 and 2 year bonds - but minimum 25k start up investment and 10k minimum in an account. But relatively competitive - 3.5% ish.

Then you enter acronyms galore - but Jane said it all above.

When I opened a Livret A account a while back, the maximun amount allowable was about 22,000 euros. If it’s gone up to 30,000 that’s good to know! I’m struggling to find what the limits actually are at the moment.

Also, the bank told me that you could have 2 Livrets (or more?) but the total of all of them couldn’t exceed the limit. Is that (still) the case?

Might depend on your attitude to currency risk, depending on where people live and where their expenses are.

22950 euro is the limit currently… for private individuals
Currently NOT possible to have more than the one Livret A per individual (but there are similar forms of account)

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True for everything - and it works both ways.

Given the money is currently in sterling - exchange rates are low - it’s not the best moment to move to euros. Fixed bonds/interest accounts are only for money you don’t need in the short term anyway.

You do your own sums and decide - but skimpy interest rates get wiped by a few % change in exchange rate

Sticking longer term cash into something sterling earning you 3+% for a year until the markets forgotten Truss seems quite low risk right now.

Thanks Stella - that matches my understanding! I don’t mind having a savings account that gets taxed - I’d just like not to be limited to the Livret A or an assurance vie…

Think 30k was wishful thinking :rofl::rofl:, 23k is too…

there is also LEP available, a savings account for those who don’t pay tax… that doesn’t need to be declared either, but the plafond is much lower I think…

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you can have LEP and Livret A

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need to discuss with banks

Edit- just noticed @JaneJones link above :slightly_smiling_face:

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apologies to all… my hand isplaying-up…

You can have a Livret A and a Livret LDDS - both tax free and 2% - and if you are on low income a LEP.

The Livret A has a max amount you can put in it, but the interest is added on top and if you leave it there then that’s fine too. So can go above the €23k that way.

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That all confirms what I thought, thank you @JaneJones and @Stella . Does anyone know of savings accounts in France where you pay tax on the interest (which I would assume might be a bit higher?)