Read the background article first for context, as this is just my one personal experience with one particular bank at one particular branch. Done in October 2013.
A week after moving to France, I tried to open a bank account. I needed it to sign up for cell phone service, and all the best cell phone plans required direct debit from a French checking account. Plus I wanted a cheaper way to get money out of the ATM besides paying all those ATM fees. After some research online, the process seemed fairly straight-forward. All you needed was some sort of proof you were living in France (lease, utility bill, etc), your passport, and some cash to deposit. I also tried to look up online if there were any suggestions on banks to use and/or avoid, but apparently it's very all up to the particular branch on how competent the bank is. Unlike the US, each branch is very independent so there's not a lot of consistency. Thus there was no consensus at all as to the "best" bank. Every bank seemed to have about the same amount of luck of finding someone who spoke English, and they all seemed to have about the same number of people who either loved or hated them. Thus, I figured I'd go with the bank closest to me, which also had an ATM machine conveniently located right next to my train station near work.
(Update: I noticed a few months in to our stay in Paris that there was a BNP Paribas branch right next to the St Germain metro station which explicitly says it's an "international" branch that speaks English).
I printed out the lease agreement my relocation agent emailed me, grabbed my passport, and walked to the bank, only to discover it's open an hour later than nomral on Thursdays. ::le sigh::. So I go back home and wait until it opens up. An hour later, I walk in and apologize for not speaking French (in French), and ask if they speak English. There's no way in hell I can do this all in French with my terrible language skills. The receptionist didn't speak any English, but my broken French was good enough for her to call in one of the associates who did.
The process then was straight forward after I explained I wanted a "current" (ie checking) account. He copied my documents, I signed some papers, and 15 minutes later I had a sheet with my bank account info printed out. Apparently the account takes a day to become active, at which point I could fill out a deposit slip, as they wouldn't let me deposit any money that day. Then they said they'd mail me my online banking password and my ATM/debit PIN, and that I should come back after that and pick up my Carte Bleue, which is basically like a debit/ATM card from what I can tell, but it's only billed at the end of the month (I think) and there's a limit on how much I can charge. That part is still a little hazy, so we'll see how it goes. It's also like 3 Euro a month. The main thing I'm interested in regards to the Carte Bleue (CB) is for places where my chip+signature Visa credit card isn't accepted, and the merchant needs/wants a chip+pin card. I probably won't use it often, but I'm sure it'll come in very handy when I do.
So we'll see if I get something in the mail in the next few days, and hopefully I can be up and going soon!
Update: I received both the online password and CB PIN number. Making a cash deposit was easy (the deposit slip is all in French, but even with my terrible French I could understand it well enough), but they didn't have my CB card yet so they said it would be another 5 days. I might be wrong about that since I didn't speak french, but she held up 5 fingers so I suppose I'll try again next week. Oh the joys of culture shock!
Also I discovered transferring money from Bank of America to an overseas account is incredibly expensive (like $70 expensive). So my plan is to just continue to draw the maximum out of the ATM and do cash deposits, which is far cheaper than wire transfers even with the ATM fees.
Update 2: I got my check book in the mail, and went to pick up my CB (now 2 weeks after opening the account) and they said they didn't have it and were waiting on more documentation (that they never told me about!). They said they needed another copy of the lease contract to prove I was living here, even though I'd already given it to them to open the account! I don't know what exactly went wrong, so I'll print out another copy and we'll see how it goes then next week. It's the first hiccup though I've had.
Update 3: So two weeks later (as I was traveling in the meantime) I went back to the bank, and the original person I opened the account with was there. I explained I was back to re-submit the lease agreement, and he goes "Oh there is no problem, here let me get it for you", and voila, there my CB card was. Odd.... but I confirmed it works, and so now I'm all set up for France!
Update 4: Now that we're leaving, I had to look up what is involved in closing a French bank account. It seemed to vary widely on how much of a hassle it was, so I called up the guy who opened my account (who speaks English thankfully and I had his business card) and he said all I needed to do was create a short letter saying I wanted to close my account and just show up any day. So I showed up 2 days before we left just to be on the safe side, and took out most of my money beforehand via an ATM. It was a very quick process. I took my check book, transaction book, and CB card along with the note, had Kara to explain the situation (though I could have done it without her) and surprisingly they even gave me the 5.35 euro I still had in the account. I'd read a lot about how banks don't actually have cash on hand, but they gave me the rest of my balance in coins that day. Total time: 5 minutes. It was actually quite easy!
Now that the French bank account is setup, I've found that the cheapest way to get money into it is via Paypal
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