If you are thinking of buying a house in France you will need to open a French bank account. With this euro account you can easily pay utility bills, local builders and other services in France with a cheque or debit card. Most banks give you access to you accounts via online banking allowing you to easily manage your money. one drawback with French banking is nots normally free, there is usually a monthly charges current accounts, but it depends on what your needs are, it is possible to bank free but you have to pay for your Debit cards

Firstly things you need to take with you to open an account:

• Passport for identification.
• utility bill (EDF, France telecom, etc.) for proof of your address.
• You may also be ask for a reference from your native bank.

Its fairly easy to open an account in France, but be prepared to have to make a appointment for a later date.

Debit cards in France are called Cart Bleu and will have the CB symbol on them, credit cards have the MasterCard or Visa symbol. Take Note, Credit cards in France are not used in the same way as we use them in the UK and are more like a debit card with purchases being deducted either immediately or at the end of the month, It not normally possible in France to pay of credit card purchases via a monthly minimum payment. If you hold a joint account a card is issued to the first account holder, If both want a card, you must ask for the second account holders card. French cards are not free and cost for each card is around 35 euros per year for a basic debit card and can be as much as 150 euros if you opt for additional packages, if the card is lost you be charged for a new one. All card payments in France use the chip & pin method,(which is now in full force in the UK.) when purchasing goods or services you will be asked to enter your 4 digit pin number into the card machine.

When you pay by cheque in France you will be asked for proof of identity, a valid passport or ID card will do fine. French cheques unlike UK cheques are seen as good as a cash payment, NOTE ! it's illegal to write out a French cheque if you do not have sufficient funds in your account to cover it, going overdrawn by even a small amount is not allowed unless you have arranged an overdraft facility with your bank and could result in you being blacklisted and your account being frozen, Which is a nightmare to sort out.

In the back of your French cheque book you will find several printed slips called RIB's these have all the relevant information needed to set up regular direct debit payments from your account. Most utility bills offer the option to pay by direct debit and will ask for an RIB slip to set this up.

TIP is another form of payment You can use to pay for some regular bills, this authorizes the full payment to be deducted from your account like a cheque. To set this up look for the TIP slip on your utility bill and fill out and return with an RIB slip, when you receive your next bill (facture) all your relevant bank details will be printed on the TIP and you will just have to sign it and return it for the payment to be taken direct from your account.