> From what I've heard, you have to show up physically for most bank stuff. Is that true? That was true until maybe 10 years ago? Today you can easily open an

> From what I've heard, you have to show up physically for most bank stuff. Is that true? That was true until maybe 10 years ago? Today you can easily open an account online and never show up to a physical agency. If the bank you chose even has one. But due to the way France works, with the different administrations forbidden from sharing information between each other and no central citizens repository, processes work on the customer themselves passing documents back and forth between the different administrations or companies, which makes it more difficult as a newcomer. Say, the bank will ask for a proof of identity and a proof of address, you have the proof of identity but the proof of address must come from an ISP or utilities company, which in turn requires a bank account. So you have to first find an ISP that will accept payment from your foreign account, etc. It's different for example in Belgium, where once you're a resident all your information is there in a repository of the federal government and tied to your national number, so you don't need anything more than your identity card to sign up for a bank account. It's much easier but on the other hand, I don't really like having all my information in a single place like this, I just find it a bit unsettling that the police can look up your car's plate and call you on your cellphone to tell you that your car is badly parked.