Anyone opened a french account with Britline

Grateful for feedback from anybody who might have opened a deposit account with http://www.britline.com/ recently. I have done a search but all information is pretty dated.

Happy Girl said:

Grateful for feedback from anybody who might have opened a deposit account with http://www.britline.com/ recently. I have done a search but all information is pretty dated.

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I chatted with one of the Banque Populaire (a competitor) customer service representatives a while back and he told me that lots of Irish people were opening accounts with them at the time.

I think the thing that put me off was the fact you have to open a current account as well as the savings account. I can't remember the fees associated with the current account, I have €8 per month in my head but that could be wrong.

They also have internet banking but that service also incurs an extra charge per month if I remember correctly.

In the end I decided to go with keytrade.

EDIT: Apologies, all of what I wrote above applies to Banque Populaire.

I remember emailing Britline but being told that I either have to own a property in France or provide proof that I'm a regular visitor to the country before they'll open an account.

chewchew said:

I remember emailing Britline but being told that I either have to own a property in France or provide proof that I'm a regular visitor to the country before they'll open an account.

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Thanks chewchew. I did see that you have to show proof that you are a regular visitor to the country before they will open an account but that wouldn't be an issue for us. I have emailed them and will update this post if I get a reply.

UPDATE - I have received the following from Britline. I am assuming given that Britline accommodate UK & Republic of Ireland accounts that the reference below "for UK tax residents" also refer to "Irish" tax resident:

Following your email request, please find below details on the savings accounts available to our French resident customers. For UK tax residents, only CSL boost, CSL and Livret A accounts are available within the instant access savings accounts.

INSTANT ACCESS ACCOUNTS

• HIGHER INTEREST CSL Boost - receive an interest rate of 3.25% from 01/06/11 – 31/08/11. Only available for new funds received. Maximum €50,000 per household.

• Livret A Following changes in legislation, this popular French instant access savings account is available to all customers. The interest rate is fixed by the state and from 1st February 2011 has increased to 2.00% gross for non-residents who should declare the interest earned on their annual tax return. For French residents there is no liability for tax or social charges. One account allowed per person, minimum 10€, maximum 15300€.

• CSL (Compte sur livret) : An instant access savings account with no deposit limit. The current interest rate is 1.50% gross. Can be in joint names.

• The " LDD " (Livret de Développement Durable), at an interest of 2.00% net, is an account available for french residents registered in France with the Trésor Public for their tax return. This is a single account with a maximum saving possibility of 6000 euros and on which the minimum 10 euros balance is also required. This offers the possibility for our joint account holders to have an account each and double their savings!

• The LDD can be complemented by a CODEBIS with the same technicalities as the LDD but earning a gross 2.90% and requiring the LDD for the same person to be full. Transfers to the current account will be done from the Codebis before the LDD .

• The "Livret Epargne Populaire" (LEP) deposit account at an interest rate of 2.50% net. It is available for French residents who pay no tax or under 769 euros for 2010. Maximum saving allowed: 7700 euros, minimum: 30 euros. The original of your French tax assessment is required to prove your eligibility for this account.

LONGER TERM DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS

• DAT (Depot à Terme): A term savings account with no deposit limit. The current interest rate varies depending on the amount invested and the term over which it is invested. Various options are available including term deposits with progressive interest rates over 18 months, 3 years and 7 years, some of which have no penalties for early withdrawal*. Please contact us for details of current rates and options.

• £ DAT (Depot à Terme): A term deposit account in £ Sterling, only available to Britline customers who already hold a £ current account. The current interest rate varies depending on the amount invested and the term over which it is invested. (No penalty for early withdrawal with DAT 18 months - 0.06% penalty per month remaining on the term for early withdrawal with DAT 3 years and 7 years)

Should you require any further information regarding the above savings accounts please do not hesitate to contact us.



Kind regards
Fred Boulard

Customer Account Advisor
CA BRITLINE

15 Esplanade Brillaud de Laujardiere, 14050, CAEN Cedex.
Tel: 0033 (0)2 31 55 67 89 Fax:0033 (0)2 31 55 63 99
www.britline.com e-mail: britline@ca-normandie.fr

Further update

I confirm that we can open those accounts for Irish tax residents. As requested, I have included below more details about the CSB and DAT accounts as well as our two latest special offers.

CSL Boost:
The CSL Boost is an instant access account so there is no penalty for setting up the account and there are no charges for withdrawing funds at any time. To transfer the funds back to the cheque account, all you need is to give us a phone call or move the money over the internet. It receives an interest rate of 3.25% from 01/06/11 – 31/08/11, date after which the rate will go down to 1.50%. It is only available for new funds received so you would qualify for this as your bank account would just be opened. The maximum amount possible is €50,000 per household.

DAT(Depot à Terme):
A DAT is a fixed term savings account with no deposit limit. The current interest rate varies depending on the amount invested and the term over which it is invested. Various options are available including term deposits with progressive interest rates over 18 months (yellow table below), 3 years (green table below) and 7 years (purple table below), some of which have no penalties for early withdrawal (no penalty for early withdrawal with DAT 18 months-0.06% penalty per month remaining on the term for early withdrawal with DAT 3 years and 7 years).

Rates are as follows:
DAT progressif 18 mois

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1 -> 6 mois
1,35%
1,75%
7 -> 12 mois ​

1,75%​

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2,20%​

13 -> 18 mois

2,20%​

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Taux Actuariel = 2,19%​

DAT Progressif 36 mois : TRIANO1
1 -> 12 mois

1,70%
13 -> 24 mois
3,20%
4.50%
24 -> 36 mois
4,50%
Taux Actuariel = 3,04%​

DAT Progressif 7ans : REGALTO Année 1 1,60%

Année 2 3,00%
Année 3 3,80%
Année 4 4,30%
Année 5 4,80%
Année 6 5,50%
Année 7 6,50%
Taux Actuariel = 3,76%​

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Latest Special Offer - subscriptions for a limited period only 11/05/2011 – 30/06/2011:
(1) Britline DAT Boosto: It is a 3 year progressive Term Deposit Account
1st year – 2.0%
2nd year – 3.2%3rd year – 4.75
The minimum deposit is Eur2,000, there is no maximum amount. There are penalties for early withdrawal - 0.06% penalty per month remaining on the term although penalties are taken from the interest to be paid so capital is left untouched. Interest is paid gross at the end of each year, to be declared on the tax return of your country of residence.​

(2) CREDIT AGRICOLE COMMITMENT DAT* 5% Interest for the first 3 months, followed by either:
- An investment into CA Normandie “parts sociales” shares for minimum of 1 year. No Risk, Capital Guaranteed.
Remuneration paid on the “part sociales” is decided at the Annual General Meeting – as an indication, interest paid for 2010 was 3.2%
Minimum deposit 100 Euros – Maximum deposit 5,000 Euros per person.
- Investment into Assurance Vie (life insurance bond) – you can choose the fund in which you wish to invest but as an example in the Euro fund the interest rate for 2011 is guaranteed at 3.35%
Tax efficient way of investing medium to long term
Minimum deposit 750 Euros – no maximum.
Regular monthly savings also possible. ​

*Minimum deposit on DAT 5% - 5,000 Euros - Maximum 100,000 Euros per person
Penalties for early withdrawal on DAT – no interest if withdrawn in 1st month, rate reduced to 1% for withdrawals in 2nd or 3rd month.​