Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
purchase is deducted immediately (
débit immediat
) or at the
end of the month (
débit différé
), depending which option you
choose when setting up your bank account. In either case,
there are no installment payments, no grace period and no
bill sent at the end of the month.
Cards are accepted everywhere as payment because they
are seen to be safe. Monthly purchases on the card may
be limited to between
€
1,500 and
€
2,500, unless prior
arrangements have been made.
Carte bleue
functions with
distributeurs
, with a PIN that
the bank has assigned.
Distributeurs
throughout Paris are
electronically linked and bank cards may be used in any of
them. There is no charge for using the machines at branches
of your own bank, but some banks charge for withdrawals
from other banks. Cardholders whose cards have been
illegally used by others are generally liable for the amount
withdrawn until the date they notify the bank of the problem;
the PIN is a secret number and if someone else has used
it, the bank considers that it was negligently given out by
the cardholder. Some banks offer card insurance or can
recommend where to obtain it. Make sure no one is looking
over your shoulder when you are at the
distributeur
.
Moneo
Moneo is a 'smart card', a kind of prepaid credit card that can
be used in some shops to make purchases of up to
30. It's
anonymous, so there's no risk of identity theft. You can refill it
up to
€
100 so even if it's stolen, that's the most you can lose.
Moneo can be bought and refilled at post offices and banks.
€
La Poste
Post Offices (
bureaux de poste
) are the most widespread banks
in France and as they are all connected, they have more
branches than any other. In terms of convenience, the local
post office may be the most practical place to open a bank
account, depending on the types of services you need. La
Poste offers all the usual services available at any other bank.
They are also
bureaux de change
and many are Western Union
agents. However, they are rumoured to be the least flexible
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