# American opening account with Banque Postale



## zekeDR

Hello everyone,
I'm in the process of separating from my wife and we are closing all our joint accounts with Societe Generale. I now need to open a new personal account. SG never gave me any fuss about being american, but I would prefer not to remain a customer with them as they are not a very "likeable" bank. I started up the process of opening an account with Banque Postale through their interface on-line. But right away on the first page they list the requirements
-be major: check
-be a french fiscal resident: check 
-open a non-professional account: check
- THEN "ne pas être contribuable américain (USA)" . 
You can uncheck this requirement before proceeding, but the next screen tells you that you must contact them by phone or visite a La Poste branch. So this is what I'm going to do, visite a branch to try the process in person. That said, has anyone, specifically American, had any trouble opening a basic checking/debit card account at La Poste? Thanks in advance!


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## eairicbloodaxe

Thanks to FATCA, all americans abroad have a lot more hassle opening bank accounts than other good immigrants.

However, although there are still more hoops, you are less likely to get a direct "Non" these days. At least this bank allows you to discuss it.

Kind regards


Ian


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## Chrissippus

For those who will be making frequent transfers of money from a US bank to your new French bank, it is worth noting that some French banks are also US banks with an ABA number. This means that a wire transfer to such a French/US bank would be a domestic wire transfer at a lower cost than an international wire transfer. It might also be possible to do a free ACH transfer to such a bank, although this would need to be verified.

Crédit Agricole and Société Générale; for example, do have ABA numbers. My guess is that La Poste does not.

My current favorite US credit union, State Department Federal Credit Union, charges $6 for a domestic wire transfer, if you qualify.


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## Bevdeforges

Have you actually transferred money to/from CA or SocGen using their ABA number? I know the ABA numbers have detailed information by branch, so I wonder how they indicate a French branch in the "routing" number. Both CA and SocGen certainly have IBAN numbers, but I'm not sure that you can get an ABA number for your French branch and account.

As far as the OP is concerned, there are banks that will open an account for you, but you will have to call them to schedule an appointment so you can discuss things with them. (Pretty much the drill for any bank that has a bricks and mortar presence these days.) To open an account online, you need to have already held a bricks and mortar account in France. It's not just FATCA - there is an OECD and EU led regulation that banks have to "know their customers."


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## Chrissippus

Bevdeforges said:


> Have you actually transferred money to/from CA or SocGen using their ABA number? I know the ABA numbers have detailed information by branch, so I wonder how they indicate a French branch in the "routing" number. Both CA and SocGen certainly have IBAN numbers, but I'm not sure that you can get an ABA number for your French branch and account.


I don't have accounts with French banks yet, only with Bangkok Bank here in Thailand. As far as I know the ABA number does not include branch information. All that is necessary to route a payment is the ABA number and the account number, even for a large bank with many branches, such as Bangkok Bank. The ABA number itself does not reference an account. 

Here is the entry for Credit Agricole. I notice that they do not process ACH transfers. But they should accept a domestic wire transfer from a US bank with just the ABA and account numbers.


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## Bevdeforges

Chrissippus said:


> Here is the entry for Credit Agricole. I notice that they do not process ACH transfers. But they should accept a domestic wire transfer from a US bank with just the ABA and account numbers.


I suppose you won't know until you try it - but I have my doubts. Still, let us know when you do try it.


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## zekeDR

Thanks for all the replies. I strolled down to La Poste and spoke with lady behind the "banque" counter. I explained the situation, my attempt to go the on-line route and getting hung up at the contribuable américain part. Told her the website directed me to my local agence. It's so funny their reactions, shuffling feet, backing away a bit, she made the rounds in the agence to inquire with the other conseilleurs. I told her I'd been in France for 18 years now, had accounts in another bank, paid my taxes here, etc. She had to go verify behind closed doors with someone else. Basically I fixed a rendez vous for monday to bring my paperwork and start the process. I'm sure it will go fine, but it makes you feel like you're the cartel or something trying to open an account.

I'd been with SocGen since 2004, all my accounts were joint accounts, but they were very aware of course that I was US citizen as my passport was recorded in the database. But I think this was all before FATCA etc. and since then they never dug in and did some crossreferencing to filter out their US clients in order to track them down and fill out the new related paperwork. This was one of my considerations for remaining with SG and opening personal accounts while closing the joint accounts, but I figured at that point I would be considered like a walk-in customer starting from scratch, especially because I planned on changing agencies.

I'll post a follow up of my experience this week!

regards,
Z


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