See what everyone says then actually go into the branch as one bank can differ greatly from another because of the staff.
I am with CA as my parents were. Thye have always been excellent, take care of my accounts with more hands on managing than am used to but appreciate. They ended up being the best rates for my mortgage and finally my car + house insurance.
I even have a banker that I can contact my email and who replies by the next day!!! For France that is amazing! He is rather frighteningly young looking but you know what they say when policeman and bankers start looking young!
I understand that they have an English phone line but often the individual branches have someone on hand to have appointments with.
Have heard of nightmare stories with certain banks for both English and French people so do go in and see if they feel concerned and efficient.
We have a Premier account, have done for years. But it makes no difference, in fact since they moved the international office from our branch in Poitiers to Paris it is far worse. They have even taken money from us for a civil offence apparently committed in Carcassone -- we have never been there!!! Obviously mistaken identity but it is not possible to argue the case ... 300 Euros in fact. I would very much like to resolve this issue with them but it is not easy to communicate to obdurate staff that do not take responsibility. But agree with Steve Hayes on exchange etc and ease of transfer, hence the reason we used them in the first place, but the customer service is abysmal.
They do have English speakers on the phone and in Montpellier branch at least. The best bit though is that if you use their Premier account you can transfer funds instantly between UK and France and the exchange rate spread is very narrow (significantly better than HiFX Moneycorp etc in my experience). The worst bit is that in the main the staff subscribe to the "customer must be wrong and or an idiot" and "if in doubt guess" school of customer service.
We have been with Crédit Agricole since about 1970 with no serious problems. Crédit Agricole Corbeil gave us the mortgage on our very first house in Evry and Credit Agricole UK organised the mortgage on our current home. We were living in Belgium at the time (pre-Euro) and the French branches didn't want to know as I refused to have my salary paid into a French account. But once agreed in the UK, the mortgage was tranferred to our local branch in Marvejols and no-one asked where my salary was being paid. When we first arrived our personal banker didn't even know who we were until we banked the cheque for the sale of our old home in Paris. Then he was suddenly on the phone asking us to invest! But that was then. The staff are now younger, more aware of modern banking needs and that not everyone is a farmer!
La Banque Postale sits us fine- it's right opposite our front door! But no English (never had a problem though) and our branch is v small. It used to be open 5 days a week,now only two and they have stopped the free service that they used to offer account holders to change British cash into Euros. Now we have to drive 12 miles there and 12 miles back to do that. On line service seems to be fine and I saw a recent survey where they came out as one of the cheapest if not the cheapest. Never tried them for a loan or mortgage though. I used to be with BNP who were nearby and then shut that branch too and moved 20 miles away, a round trip of nearly 2 hours by thetime you had finished. Let's face it all banking is going internet. To be frank I've had far less bother with banks here than in the UK where I recall several calls of over an hour in length to sort problems. One day I was on the phone for 4 hours with Santander but they are better now that they have shifted all their call centres back to the UK.
I would second everything said about Credit Agricole and Britline. Reliable friendly excellent customer service, and you can talk to real people! Plus their online banking is pretty good.
I set up an account with CA Britline before we moved to France. I have found them helpful, and have received 2 calls over the last 14 months asking if everything is okay, is there anything we need, etc. When we lost our Carte Bleu, they said they would have to send the replacement to the Dublin address, but were more than happy to accept a letter from me confirming our French address, which they also accepted by email. Replacement card arrived in about 5 days. One word of caution - they don't have a 24/7 phoneline to report lost or stolen cards. It is also my impression (others here may know better) that CA Britline is not associated with other CA branches - one cannot lodge cheques in a CA branch in Aude to the Britline account. They do send you a booklet of lodgement slips.
Banque Populaire. They pride themselves with an English speaking service. You can even go on line and click the English icon for information in English. Mine is Occitane Banque Populaire.
We are another Credit Agricole, we live near Montauban but deal with Ashley in Rodez, by both phone and email, we can deal with the local branch in the village, such as collecting a bank cheque that she was able to sort for us. ( with the right words I am sure we could have done it, but this made life much easier!)
She has advised on savings, got the children set up with accounts too, very efficient. The internet banking , although not as easy as my UK bank, is quite easy to use and all statements can be viewed online instead of by paper.
Whatever you do, DON'T use the so-called world bank, HSBC ... I have used them elsewhere in the world as well as England with no problems, but in France they are abysmal, they are difficult to talk to, incompetent in their delivery, and completely unprofessional in their customer service. Just a small word of warning. Incidentally we used their service as we bank in the UK with HSBC and transfer between accounts was without cost and a good rate and they had an online English speaking service. However, it is rare we can speak to an English-speaker, after moving address from the UK it was difficult to get in touch with them as they always called us back on our old English number without recourse to our new number. It took THREE YEARS to get them to contact us in France and when we ordered a new cheque book it still had on the old English address which was the whole point of the new book. I repeat: They are incompetent.
We also have been with Credit Agricol Britline never had a problem infact their insurance is much cheaper than any of local agents, friend of ours is with AXA internet banking when their pc goes down they cant get any money which is great for AXA it stays in the bank, CA Britline may be a little out of the way living down in the Tarn being based in Caen but never been a problem any paperwork is emailed i print sign scan send back job done and there is no misunderstandings as the girls speak English or are English
Credit Agricole has a division called "Britline" they cover all aspects of every day banking plus insurance and just about everything you would expect from any bank.If you call them you always get to speak to someone who speaks English. You can se up transfers and direct debits,you get a news letter in English.Over the years we have had a house they have been excellent.Give them a call and ask them about your banking needs. From France 0231556789
We use Credit Agricole. Generally good, but when they make mistakes like issueing a credit card when a debit card was requested and then only being able to use it in France, then it is a long and weary process to unravel. For back up I have a Barclays account and service is good, quite personal and prompt but do not expect it to be the same as Barclays in the UK.
We use Credit Agricole in Olonzac, English speaking manager who is brilliant. Had a couple of teething problems, which the young girl on the desk was particularly unhelpful with - Gallic shrug and Non!! you cannot see the Manager. A rebate cheque from the Notaire went missing after being paid in, still not appearing after 10 days!! Also cheque book went missing, although online it was still telling me it was at my branch. Manager Mr Abiven sorted the problem tout suite, after chivying up 'Head Office'. Senior teller very helpful and on friendly waving terms after just a couple of visits.