Is it easy to switch bank accounts in France?
Certain savings accounts cannot be moved between banks
You should still manually check that payments have been switched over
Fizkes/Shutterstock
Reader Question: I am dissatisfied with my current bank and want to switch to a new one, however I have held the account for several years and fear it will be a difficult job. How tough is it to switch over direct debits, etc?
Switching between French banks has been made significantly easier in recent years due to the ‘loi Macron’ banking law.
Introduced in 2017, its rules relating to mobilité bancaire make switching accounts a more fluid process.
They place the responsibility of transferring regular outgoing and incoming payments from the old account to the new one on the banks as opposed to the account holder, and the service is free.
This can cover matters such as direct debits (virements) and standing orders (prélèvements) for payments made to your utility companies, insurers etc and regular payments received from pensions, salary or benefits.
However, this does not come as standard and you must request it when opening a new account, and it does not deal with all aspects of your account.
How does it work?
To use mobilité bancaire, you have to first agree to open up a new account with a bank of your choice and sign a permission form (mandat de mobilité) for the transfer, providing details of your old account.
If you do not ask the bank to do this, they may not prompt you and you will in that case be expected to switch everything manually yourself.
The new bank will then get into contact with your old one to organise the transferral.
They must make contact within 10 days of you signing the commitment, and complete the process within 22 working days.
The banks will need to contact payers and payees to inform them of the change, and obtain confirmation that the payments will be sent to/taken from the new account.
It is not obligatory for you to close the old account if you prefer to keep it open.
Not everything can be transferred
However, there are some elements where changes cannot be made automatically and must still be transferred manually by the account holder.
This can include mortgage payments (although in certain circumstances you may be able to transfer these) and some services.
There have been reports of issues with banks switching payments to or from France’s tax office – meaning information may need to be updated manually through your personal space on the tax website – as well as TV services including Canal+ and a number of other monthly subscriptions.
Payments received from overseas, such as foreign pensions, are also unlikely to be transferred over as part of mobilité bancaire.
It is therefore still important to carefully check after the account is switched.
In addition, you must transfer any funds manually yourself between the accounts if you wish.
Various savings accounts linked to the main current account are also ineligible to be transferred, including a Livret A and any assurance vie products. Note that you cannot have more than one Livret A, so would need to close the one with your old bank and open one with the new bank, if you so wish.
Some accounts such as a LEP (Livret d'épargne populaire, a savings account for people with modest incomes), plan d'épargne en actions or compte titres (accounts holding shares) and a plan épargne logement (savings account for property purchases) can be transferred, but usually require an additional fee to make the switch.
