How to choose your bank

Traditional or online banks: which to choose?

France is home to many types of banking institutions that support individuals: traditional and online banks. Understanding the features of both types of banks is important in choosing a bank in France.

Traditional banks

"Traditional" or "classical" banks are those that operate as we’ve always known. They have physical offices and do business at regional level (often in the form of cooperative banking), or at national scale. Examples of traditional banks include Crédit Mutuel, LCL, la Banque Postale and Société Générale.

They have customer service consultants available to assist clients. With their services they aim to support life projects such as bank services, savings, loans, and, occasionally, insurance services. All these constitute full-fledged services which traditional banks offer their customers.

Support is fully customised, and customer service is optimum through:

• customer service consultants

• remote banking platform

• secured internal messaging system

Traditional banks have higher tariffs to meet their more sizeable operational charges, compared to online banks. This is worth considering when choosing a bank.

Online banks

As the name suggests, online banks operate 100% online . Their services are fully digital, for remote operation only. There are two types of online banks:

• Online banking institutions such as Boursorama Banque, Hello Bank and Fortune. They all offer full-fledged banking services such as savings and loans on a daily basis.

• Neobanks. These banks offer services for everyday needs only. Current account, credit cards and bank transfers are services offered to customers with only limited needs in terms of banking services. However, these neobanks, such as N26, offer affordable and highly competitive tariffs for their services, especially for international operations.

Attractive tariffs stand out as the primary advantage of online banks, as they are lower compared to those of traditional banks. Online banks also offer unrivalled independent and flexible operations. They are simple to use and allow you to manage your account easily, whenever you need to.

Finally, it's generally easier and faster to open an account with an online bank. Account activation is faster and subject to less paperwork.

Facts to consider when choosing a bank in France

Now, let's go into the details and learn how to determine which bank to choose, based on given criteria.

Your personal status

There are several considerations relating to your personal status that are important in making a decision between an online bank and a traditional bank:

• your age

• your professional status (public servant offer, Health professional offer)

• your social status: expatriate, student

• your income

• your family status

• etc.

Your personal status is one criteria to consider when choosing a bank in France. For example, a student with limited needs who uses their smartphone daily will opt for a bank account with an online bank. An expatriate willing to carry out international transactions will prefer banks with the lowest international transfer fees. Or, someone looking to receiving tailored counselling for their financial assets will want a traditional bank.

Your requirements

A few questions to reflect on regarding your needs when choosing a bank:

• Do I need a savings account like the French "Livret A" or a life insurance account?

• Do I want to use my account only remotely?

• Do I want to make savings?

• Do I travel frequently?

• Do I often need to make international transfers?

• Do I need to send money abroad?

Your bank preferences will vary, depending on what your needs are. Go to the banks' websites or on a comparison website to check the services offered.

Services offered

In choosing the right bank, the services they offer must match the needs discussed above. However, it’s also important to assess the quality of services. In this regard, to make an opinion for yourself, nothing better than hearing from existing clients already using the service. The customer service consultant's availability and their accessibility (by phone, external mailbox, customer messaging) is also another important factor to consider.

Your home address

If you choose a traditional bank, it’s essential to choose a bank located near you. Having a branch close to your home will make transactions and conversation with your customer service consultant so much easier.

Tariffs

Tariffs is the paramount criteria in choosing a bank. Depending on your most needed services, it may be wise to choose a bank with attractive tariffs. So, you can use a comparison site such as panorabanques.com or comparateurbanque.com. Comparison sites are a good tool to verify the various tariffs offered on the market, based on your needs.

Note: the website economie.gouv.fr also provides a comparison tool.

Bonuses

Online banks often offer welcome bonuses. Some traditional banks also sometimes offer them too. Such welcome bonuses may be in form of discounts, a given amount deposited upon opening of your account, mentorship or presents. Comparison sites will inform you about the various bonuses available.

For example, Boursorama Banque offers €100 to any client opening a account with them for the first time (with Ultim or Welcome, November 2022 bonus). Orange Bank grants a bonus between €50 and €100 upon opening an account with a Premium card (November 2022 bonus). This may be a decisive factor in choosing a bank.

Comparing services when choosing a bank

Key to choosing the right bank for you is comparing, comparing and again comparing. This can be a tedious and time-consuming task. But you also have bank comparison sites to help you. They help save precious time and provide a glimpse of the various offers available on the market.

How to ascertain a proper comparison? It’s important to begin by listing your priorities:

• support

• tariffs

• welcome bonus

• range of services offered

• accessibility

• account's ease of use

• types of online services

Then you can select two or three institutions meeting the suggested criteria before fine-tuning the selection to choose the most suitable bank for you.

Now you have all the information you need to choose your bank and open a bank account. Feel free to give our blog a read for more information on personal finance.

This article has been provided for informational purposes. It may not be considered as legal or financial advice. If you require financial or legal advice, consult an advisor or specialised lawyer.