3 ms·

Why not get a bank account in a different Eurozone country? SEPA transfers are required to be the same price as domestic in those countries.

tom_mellior 9y ago
1. That's not necessarily easy for people coming from outside the Eurozone. 2. For people from inside the Eurozone, it might still not work: I've had a work contract in a Eurozone country that specified that I had to have a bank account in that country. Not sure why, not sure whether it's legal, but not necessarily something you want to fight. 3. In France, it would not work as a practical matter. In other countries, you give people your IBAN in an email and you're set; in France, they require you to give them something called a RIB, which is a piece of paper (or a PDF) issued by your bank carrying your IBAN. Foreign banks do not issue things that would be accepted as a RIB in France, so your employer would say they can't transfer your money. Stupid? Yes! Everyday reality in France? Also yes, sadly.
- eolides 9y ago
  A few years ago, my bank did not issue RIB online and I only had one left but needed two of them. So I just fired up LaTeX and did my own, correctly formated according to my IBAN and BIC number. It was perfectly fine and I used this files until I left my bank. The main problem living in france with a foreign account is that most companies (such as phone and energy companies) does not accept foreign account for SEPA debit mandate (IBAN starting with anything else than FR). It is a major problem for the development of european fintechs development in france, such as N26 german fintech.
graniter 9y ago
US citizens should note that US Federal law requires you to file a statement of your overseas accounts every year, and your foreign bank must report your assets to the US government. There are steep fines if the foreign bank does not comply. This puts a burden and risk on many banks so they sometimes refuse to let Americans open bank accounts with them. And even when they do open an account for you, expect to provide a lot of official documentation (passports, social security number). Just another benefit of being from the land of the free. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance...

tom_mellior 9y ago

1. That's not necessarily easy for people coming from outside the Eurozone. 2. For people from inside the Eurozone, it might still not work: I've had a work contract in a Eurozone country that specified that I had to have a bank account in that country. Not sure why, not sure whether it's legal, but not necessarily something you want to fight. 3. In France, it would not work as a practical matter. In other countries, you give people your IBAN in an email and you're set; in France, they require you to give them something called a RIB, which is a piece of paper (or a PDF) issued by your bank carrying your IBAN. Foreign banks do not issue things that would be accepted as a RIB in France, so your employer would say they can't transfer your money. Stupid? Yes! Everyday reality in France? Also yes, sadly.

eolides 9y ago
A few years ago, my bank did not issue RIB online and I only had one left but needed two of them. So I just fired up LaTeX and did my own, correctly formated according to my IBAN and BIC number. It was perfectly fine and I used this files until I left my bank. The main problem living in france with a foreign account is that most companies (such as phone and energy companies) does not accept foreign account for SEPA debit mandate (IBAN starting with anything else than FR). It is a major problem for the development of european fintechs development in france, such as N26 german fintech.

graniter 9y ago

US citizens should note that US Federal law requires you to file a statement of your overseas accounts every year, and your foreign bank must report your assets to the US government. There are steep fines if the foreign bank does not comply. This puts a burden and risk on many banks so they sometimes refuse to let Americans open bank accounts with them. And even when they do open an account for you, expect to provide a lot of official documentation (passports, social security number). Just another benefit of being from the land of the free. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance...