Hi Folks,
My financial affairs are quite simple (unfortunately lol 
). I’ve been with the same bank in the UK (HSBC) for decades and I manage with a single bank card most of the time. I am completely out-of-touch with developments in personal banking and accounts so I find myself in need of some advice.
When I started my move to France, I opened a euro account with HSBC (it seemed like a good idea) and later opened an account with CA Britline, mainly on the advice I’ve read on here.
I now want my banking to be based in France. I will probably keep my HSBC current account open with a few pounds in it, if they will let me.
CA Britline, in the small amount of dealings I’ve had with them, have been very good - great customer service. The fact that they are in Normandy and I am 450km away in Deux-Sevres hasn’t been a problem as I haven’t, and don’t foresee, a need to meet them face-to-face.
However, rightly or wrongly, I have always thought that (some) people use CA Britline as a English-speaking ‘stepping stone’, a first step into banking in France before signing up to a main street French bank. Perhaps I am wrong?
And so to my question. Would you see any disadvantages in using CA Britline as my main French bank, the place to receive my pension and the small earnings I make from part-time work? My physically nearest bank is a ‘regular’ CA, would I be better off with an account there?
What about one of the new on-line banks?
Any and all advice will be appreciated.
M.
I can’t comment on the pros and cons of French banks in general, but I would say you are doing the right thing by keeping a UK account open as long as possible, not just as a backup but also because some pension providers won’t pay pensions into non-UK accounts, for example.
I’m keeping my Nationwide account and also opened a First Direct account a few months ago as a backup in case one or other of them decide not to allow non-UK residents to have accounts any more.
Although I’m not in France full time yet (we won’t go into that saga!) I find having an account with Wise very useful as it’s multi-currency, has no standing fees, and they offer good exchange rates. You can also earn a bit of interest on your balances if you want.
I wouldn’t keep a big pot of money in Wise as they are a fintech not a bank so aren’t covered by Government guarantees, but they are pretty solid as far as I can tell.
Whenever I am in France I use my Wise VISA card as my primary means of payment and it works well - I just bung some pounds into Wise and convert them to Euros in the app.
Hopefully others can advise you on actual French banks.
We had accounts with local bank branches for a long time and only tried Britline in the last few years. We’ve found them to be very good.
I speak reasonable French but when it comes to financial or legal stuff, it’s nice to have advice in English to be sure we’ve understood. We also have an online account with Boursobank for household bills, they’re efficient and have a fairly flexible ‘ceiling’ for card payments that you can adjust easily online.
We chose CAB because my French is not up to banking discussions and Madame, while fluent, has no interest in or understanding of finance.
I had the « stepping-stone » idea but at the moment I’m very happy with CAB and don’t envisage a move. I might in the future, but not necessarily (because, why add an extra layer of complexity ?).
Once you accept that most traditional French banks charge, it’s not that big a jump to paying CA’s fees. And their staff and customer service are delightfully old-fashioned, in a good way.
I was already comfortable with online-only banking - it is decades since I set foot in a UK bank - so the location point didn’t matter.
Good luck finding an actual branch in which to set foot, these days! 
And if you do find one they are staffed by people who have neither the knowledge or authority to help you.
Some years ago, when NatWest still had a (fairly sizeable) branch in Cranleigh (England’s largest village), I wandered in and enquired about opening a business account.
“Oh no, we don’t do those here”, they said. “You have to go to Guildford, or I can make an appointment for you to meet an adviser here sometime”.
And of course a year or two later that branch closed.
So I continue using my Nationwide Building Society Flex account for everything, business and personal.
I agree about the charges. The other thing about Britline is they know what Brits expect of a bank, if you see what I mean. They have their quirks but you can always sort things out on the phone and they can help you with problems accessing their app or your online account.
We’ve had some difficult experiences with local branches of French banks, I won’t bore you with that.
We opened an account with Britline 25 years ago as non-residents as that was easy. And they have done no wrong, so we have never changed. I can use the local branch to pay in cheques and cash with minimal delay and don’t really need to be face to face with a human being for much else.
Bizarrely, having kept the account the whole 20 years we’ e been 750 km away in the Jura we will now be moving close to Caen so it will be our local bank.
We have kept a UK account and use Wise. So enough options.
I’ve had an account with a local branch of Credit Agricole for years and they have been both great and awful depending on the staff of the moment. It’s useful being able to talk to someone “in the flesh” so to speak but of course you need to have enough French to be able to do that and @Jennifer11 's point about Britline knowing what Brits expect of a bank is true. They seem to be an employer that bilinguals gravitate to so the only contact we had with them was with an obvious bilingue whose English was that of a native speaker but his understanding of banking was minimal. I hope that was just a one-off.
I would most definitely underline @ChrisMann 's point of keeping one, preferably two, UK bank accounts open as it’s extremely difficult, borderline impossible, to open one as a French resident.
I find Wise very useful but only for transfers - I wouldn’t keep any money in it.
However, I am a bit “belt and braces” so have 2 UK accounts, 2 French accounts plus Wise which most people would consider to be over the top 
This is pretty well what I do. I have all UK income deposited into First Direct (HSBC), let it accumulate until I need it and the exchange rate is good, then use TorFx to bung it accross to Britline. I have the UK State pension paid into Britline directly as the UK Govt gets a much better rate than I can ever get. This has worked for me the past twelve years.
Yes there is all the complaints of paying for a Britline gold card that goes on ad finitum on forums, but the charge - that many do not appreciate - includes travel insurance and a few other things. Plus it is a world card that means no charges are incurred when used overseas (but this might be a personal add-on as many people claim to incur charges…) My only complaint is that one has to pay for extra cards. I no longer use cards, instead I use Applepay. But the fuel companies here are so backward that they will not open up the contactless touchpad on their pumps, so it is necessary that I have a card in each car. For this I use Revolut and just top up the account from Britline.
So, apart from needing a card for fuel (and ATM, another of my gripes with EU banks…) I recommend you do as you suggest… 
I don’t think it’s OTT, Angela.
I will always have two payment cards because neither of mine seems to work all the time. Also, my French banks - including CA - want an extra confirmation and it’s usually through their app. These don’t work all the time so if I want to shop online I have to make sure the relevant app is working before I start.
Thank you for the understanding @Jennifer11 ! That’s exactly why I have two French bank accounts as the arrangements for payments, online transfer etc vary massively from bank to bank. For me, the reassurance is worth paying double charges but it wouldnt suit everyone.
What is a CA gold card? Never heard of it. We just have a card for something like €45/year.
One step up! It is coloured gold instead of green!
It gives you more benefits, but if you do not travel overseas a lot nor need to draw out large amounts of cash, then stick with the card you have…
Use Wise for that. I rather like my pure white Wise ecocard with nothing on it but the chip.
Having previously been a client of one or two main street French banks, and having now experienced the excellent service from Britline, I wouldn’t dream of returning to the former. I agree with @Porridge that there is something refreshingly old fashioned about such good service and with @Jennifer11 that they really understand what Brits need and want from a bank.
If, notwithstanding your currently straightforward arrangements, you find you need further services in time, eg insurance, savings and/or investments, they are superb at acting as ‘honest brokers’ with other parts of CA that handle those items. They explain in plain, layman’s English what you are actually signing up to.
Like you, I don’t need face to face service. I’ve never visited my NatWest branch in 50 years and don’t envisage needing to make a pilgrimage to Caen to meet up with Britline.
You could come for tea instead!
Willingly and happily!
I guess we will now need to add to the ever lengthening list of reasons people cite for.moving to the North. It’s not just for the climate, health care, and/or proximity to Channel ports etc but clearly also to be nearer to Britline 
@George1
Does health care differ from North to South?
They are lovely. We met our financial adviser and she is very helpful and responds very quickly. We have been with them for 20 years and have nothing at all to criticise. I have been told that as you go into their office space in Caen, there is a portrait of the monarch. 
eeyuk.