Which online bank account in France?

 Coming back to France, we had to set up new bank accounts so that that we can splurge during our one year sabbatical. 

I hate to have so many bank accounts, but we could still end those once we finish our sabbatical year. 

Revolut

I don't have my own personal account in France! So I decided to have my own and opted for the trending Revolut. The main point is that it is TOTALLY FREE! And it was so fast to set up! 
I received my Debit card withing a week.

Use my referral link https://revolut.com/referral/?referral-code=lulujump!MAR1-25-VR-FR to create your Revolut account!

Pros:

- Multi-Currency Support: Hold and spend in over 150 currencies with competitive exchange rates, great for travelers or international use.
I'm used to having multiple currency at HSBC so it's good having something familiar here in France although I don't think I'll hedge any currencies at this point. 

- Low Fees: Free ATM withdrawals (up to a limit on the Standard plan), no foreign transaction fees, and low-cost transfers.

-  User-Friendly App: Real-time spending tracking, budgeting tools, and easy currency conversion via a sleek mobile interface.
You can trade and also buy commodities in a click! I was considering trying gold. 

-Virtual cards: Those are very practical if you often shop online. It is basically a one-time-use card to make sure your card won't be hacked online. 

-Savings: Their savings rate is 3.25% gross. You can see every single day the interest paid in your account.

- Flexible Plans: Free Standard account plus Premium!!!
Metal options with perks like travel insurance and higher withdrawal limits. There is also another plan in between. 

-Customizable cards: You can customize the look of your debit card! Pretty nice... But my point was to have a free bank account so I didn't even pay for the extra customization process. 
You just pay the shipping cost, 7 euros or so, to get your free debit card shipped over to you.

 Cons:

I don't use it much so far, so I don't have any cons...

 

Monabanq

Nico chose this bank for our joint account. 
His main goal was to have a premium debit card that had a lot of protections when booking trips, buying consumer products...

Personally, I have never used my debit or credit card to claim any of those insurances. 
Maybe I did it once and it failed...

So I don't really count on it. 

Pros:

-Debit Card:  Visa gold is 12 euros a month, one of the cheapest one. There was nothing comparable I think with Revolut at the same price. (On Revolut you go from Premium 9.99eur to Metal 16.99 eur)

-Customer service: They reply pretty fast when contacted over the phone, they are pretty efficient. Even contacted online, it worked pretty ok. 

-No income proof: They didn't ask any income proof, which is great is we are on a sabbatical.

-No account maintenance fees: It's free. 


Cons:

I'm already listing the cons...

-Interface: The interface itself is ok, very clear, no issues. The biggest issue, is how they display your spending. You simply don't get ANYWHERE the real date of your spending! 
On their app, you only get the day the money has been withdrawn from your account. 
This is a nightmare for me, especially since I track and list all the spending on this blog. 

-Limits: The spending limits per day and overall are too low. Especially for newly opened accounts. We had to phone to get this expanded. We still had to use our HK credit cards at some point so much the limits are low. 

-Bonuses: You are supposed to get up to 200 euros for the opening of a new account. So far I received 10 euros...

I am already considering putting a halt to this bank account. 
But now that we are on the boat, it gets so complicated to do admin tasks that I am a bit deterred by it. 

Overall I miss my Hong Kong cards. 
Especially my American express. Since I am not using it any longer, I will soon terminate it.