I hope they sort it out. I’ve actually had no interaction with them since the cutover, but I must shakedown the site and visit the Branch.
I am in the US, and return to France at the end of this month, and on the top of my agenda is to close my account with CCF…I have a business account with CIC in Rodez, and a wonderful account manager who does transfers for me with email instructions- I appreciate this so much, because during the three months a year that I live in Tanzania I cannot even log in to see my CCF account. So in light of this outstanding customer service, I’m going to move my personal account to CIC.
Having lived in France and elsewhere worldwide, banking experiences in France have always been complicated, and frankly appalling. As continuing HSBC USA customers, we remain secure and well served. We are holding steady thanks to HSBC USA. Our needs in france are minimal. And while minimal, what few banking needs we have, it is still appalling. In short, it is still well worth being an HSBC USA client. But thanks for the CIC note…I am gathering info to exclude banks other expats have found problematic. Perhaps CIC might be worth our attention.
Any news on bank charges? I seem to remember we were being given a 6-month grace period which will be coming to an end in June. I’ve read all the terms and condition and they say usual fees apply which doesn’t help. This is what I’d like to know: I’ve messaged them twice but no answer yet 
Bonjour/hello,
Est-ce qu’il y a des frais pour tenir le compte/ Are there any fees for having an account?
Il faut payer pour avoir un chequier?/ Do I have to pay to get a chequebook?
Pour recevoir des euros d’une banque etrangere, il faut payer? / Is there a charge to receive euros from a foreign bank? (eg. euros from a Hong Kong bank, or euros from a British bank)
Merci / thanks!
I got a reply. 2.30 euros per month. You pay postage only for the chequebook. It’s free to send and receive euros within SEPA but 25 euros per transaction outside of that zone.
Er… no not worth, according to a French acquaintance. But like everything France YLMMV. L is for local as the minimum standard in things can very much depend on where you are here.
We had a meeting with our CCF (HSBC as was) advisor this morning. In passing he mentioned that HSBC continues to execute its shift east and Canada, Argentina, New Zealand and the US are in the divestment firing line. I Googled and found this…
and this…
HSBC Sells Argentina Operations for $550M Amid Focus on Higher-Growth Markets.
Might be worth checking with your US branch if they have heard anything.
I’m charged 4 euros a month for the bank card - I received CCF’s version about 3 weeks ago.
I received an email to say they would try to automatically inform certain institutions to the new iBan, but for other things, it needs to be done manually, before the end of June. Managed to change over my banking details for certain organisations such as URSSAF - so far so good with the transition.
Same here, both recently got the cards but we didn’t trust them to change all our prélèvement automatique and so did them all ourselves in the last few weeks. One thing to look out for, which you may already have come across is the 4 digit code you had to use for online purchases. It’s now a 5 digit code and you can’t use the old one. You have to go online and change it otherwise online purchases will fail.
@hairbear Thanks for heads up. I have made an online purchase, but I don’t recall using a 5 digit code, as I haven’t set one up. My old code worked along with SMS verification. Did you have to go onto the CCF website and did it prompt you to enter a new code?
That’s strange. When OH got her card, she did a purchase and the CCF authentication process failed with the 4 digit code + sms code. She tried again and it failed again. Not wanting a third failure she contacted the bank through the website and they told her about the change to 5 digits and how to change it online.
Can’t remember the exact process now, but there is an option in the settings to reset the online purchase code. I think there is also an option to change the pin code, which is of course separate.
@hairbear - if my next purchase online fails, I’ll be sure to go on their website and check the options. Normally when I log in, the default landing page is “messages”, and they announce any steps you might have to take. As the new card and a 5 digit code would affect everyone who uses a card, I would have thought they would announce this, to stop a flood of calls, emails and frustration.
You would think wouldn’t you. We had to ask why the new card wasn’t working before finding out why.