# Arrived now in France. The pro's and Con's of using Wise as a bank.



## MikeandEmilyD

Hi
As we were Brits living abroad it was impossible for us to use Credit Agricole Britline to open a French bank account.
When we sold our property in Malta we put the money in a euro account with Wise.
Pro's. We arrived in France and were able to buy a car with a bank transfer and have been able to buy everyday items using the Wise card.
Con's. I knew before hand that we would not earn any interest on the money with Wise but found out that they also charge a "holding" fee for Euros. Just under 1% of the total amount you have in Euro except for a 0% allowance on the first 7k you hold so be aware.
We bought our car and transferred the rest of the money ( less 7k) back to a bank in Malta.
We have yet to open a bank account in France.
Hope this is useful info.


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## Bevdeforges

Since you've raised the issue, let me share this article (from Wise's website) regarding problems getting some companies and providers here in France to accept Wise's IBAN (which is Belgian) for transactions.








Accept My IBAN: over 1000 cases of IBAN discrimination


Any company or provider is legally required to accept your IBAN, regardless of the EU country it’s originally from. IBAN (International Bank Account Number)...




wise.com





We've had folks here on the forum who say that certain government agencies (in particular) seem to require a French bank account (which is technically not legal) however, just so you know.


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## EuroTrash

Wise is great for receiving payments and making payments, especially when there is an element of currency exchange involved. It's also useful as a backup for everyday banking, for instance it saved me from starving last summer when the bank card on my French bank account expired while I was working away from home and the bank wouldn't send the new card to where I was. I wouldn't be without my Wise accounts but equally, I wouldn't not also have a French bank account.

Re the iban being rejected, I did do a bit of looking into this and apparently whilst it's not legal in France to refuse to accept a foreign iban simply because it's foreign, it's perfectly legit to refuse to accept an iban if there is any suspicion of fraud. And one acceptable motive for suspicion apparently is, if the person's bank is situated outside their claimed country of residence. There are reports that when an iban is initially refused, it's often accepted if you can have a dialogue and justify why you bank in a different country. But it's also possible that it's a technical hitch because presumably systems are set up to accommodate the French iban format, and Wise's Belgian iban is many digits longer than a French iban so someone would have to specifically override the system. I wasn't able to set Wise up as a payee on my French bank account via my espace client because it didn't allow me to enter all the digits, I had to go into the branch and ask them to do it, which they were able to do no problem.


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## MikeandEmilyD

Bevdeforges said:


> Since you've raised the issue, let me share this article (from Wise's website) regarding problems getting some companies and providers here in France to accept Wise's IBAN (which is Belgian) for transactions.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Accept My IBAN: over 1000 cases of IBAN discrimination
> 
> 
> Any company or provider is legally required to accept your IBAN, regardless of the EU country it’s originally from. IBAN (International Bank Account Number)...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> wise.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We've had folks here on the forum who say that certain government agencies (in particular) seem to require a French bank account (which is technically not legal) however, just so you know.


Hi Bev. I was not aware of this but will probably explain some financial difficulties further down the line. I do intend to open a French bank account but I don't have enough documents to do so yet.


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## Franco-Belgian Brit

EuroTrash said:


> But it's also possible that it's a technical hitch because presumably systems are set up to accommodate the French iban format, and Wise's Belgian iban is many digits longer than a French iban so someone would have to specifically override the system.


That's odd. Belgian IBANs are 16 characters - BE11 2222 3333 4444

French ones tend to be longer.


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## NOB3125

My experience has been the same as EUROTRASH. We are Americans (always problematic!) and had several cases where the WISE IBAN was rejected. Fortunately I had some good advice last year during our planning (much of it from this excellent site). I also found (this was the hardest part) a bank willing to deal with Americans - BNP-Paribus. VERY lengthy process (and with only a single branch, in Paris) but it's a miracle they worked with me while I was still in the US. I STRONGLY recomment having both cards. If there is a glitch with one (and there will be) the other may be a lifeline. Even at that, I am never without good old American Express. When we first arrived I found that both cards refused my hotel bill because, in just a few days, I had exceeded my "limits". This was a rude surprise since I had not expected to have limits on the use of MY OWN MONEY!! But hey, this is France. And God bless it.


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## Bevdeforges

Ah yes, the weekly and monthly limits on credit card use with the French banks are something of a pain to get used to. Have been stung a couple times on my French accounts like that. Hotels can be particularly difficult as they often "reserve" a large block of your limit on check-in to protect themselves.


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## bhamham

Bevdeforges said:


> Ah yes, the weekly and monthly limits on credit card use with the French banks are something of a pain to get used to. Have been stung a couple times on my French accounts like that. Hotels can be particularly difficult as they often "reserve" a large block of your limit on check-in to protect themselves.


Leclerc blocked 1500e for my rental car.


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## NOB3125

Franco-Belgian Brit said:


> That's odd. Belgian IBANs are 16 characters - BE11 2222 3333 4444
> 
> French ones tend to be longer.


Approximately as long as the square root of 2!


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## BoilingFrog

Good one!


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## bdelancy

Another potential problem with Wise is that they have recently announced that they will start charging a service fee for certain accounts. For US citizens with Wise multi-currency accounts, the charges will apply anytime you have more than 3000 euros in your account.


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