Don't know who told you that, but it's not true. When setting up a French bank , they are generally interested in knowing how much money you will be ing through the each month. The initial you set up in most banks is the "current " (i.e. checking ) and savings s are actually better set up after you've established yourself as a "good customer." (And you do that by having regular funds deposited each month in the and paying your recurring bills through the .)

You may want to ask your son to introduce you to whatever bank he uses in Paris. Sometimes a referral from a current customer in good standing can smooth the opening of a new .

 

It can be difficult to open an at a French bank. We are also Americans and were able to open s at Credit Agricole without difficulty, although it took a couple of weeks. We keep much less than 15k in our s. YMMV.

By the way, be sure to keep your US credit cards, since credit cards do not exist here.

 

Just one more comment, though, on the topic this thread is dealing with. Wanted to address this:

By the way, be sure to keep your US credit cards, since credit cards do not exist here.

What is meant by "credit cards do not exist here" is that all sorts of bank cards here are actually "debit cards" in practice. Meaning that the money you spend with your card (in or abroad) will be debited from your bank as soon as the charge comes through to the bank - unless you have signed up for a "deferred" bank card that accumulates all charges until the end of the month, when they are deducted from you bank balance in a single transaction. There is no option to roll over part or all of the balance due at the end of the month, and even non-bank cards (Amex, Diners Club, etc.) must be associated with a specific bank so that the charges can be deducted either as they are made or monthly.

The main convenience in maintaining your US credit cards comes down to using them when you are back visiting in the US - as long as you to check your online details regularly in order to make payments in a timely manner.

 

This discussion has more detailed recommendations for making the transition:

https://expatforum.telechargertorrent.org/threads/us-expats-living-in--how-to-keep-us-bank-s-us-credit-cards.1551251/#replies

 

Credit cards do exist in -I had one for years

Toutes les Réponses sur la Carte ZERO - Carte ZERO

Toutes les Questions/Réponses sur la Carte Zéro - Les Avantages de la Carte ZERO

ma.cartezero.fr

Has the OP checked that they are able to get a Visa to move to

 

Advanzia Bank, which is the sponsor of the Carte ZERO is not a French bank, but rather a bank founded in Luxembourg. This may for their ability to offer actual "credit" cards in .

 

If you're into keeping your life in US$, that's your thing and more power to you. I it it took me a while to adjust to the French debit card approach to bank transactions - but by now I'm euro based and for any US$ or GBP purchases, I find the Wise credit card (which is also really a debit card) absolutely adequate, and a handy way to guard against unauthorized tapping of my bank s.

You also have to stay abreast of your bank's "attitude" toward non-resident who hold s. I did fine with my US bank for several years, and then when I actually had to rely on them (for cashing a US$ check) they started getting "disagreeable" about the whole thing. Also had that problem with the financial institution where I had had my US IRA for decades. Decided that was the time to cut my ties and not look back. But as the old saying goes, YMMV.

 

If you're into keeping your life in US$,

Not much of a choice, when SS and pensions of all sorts are "there" (i.e. In $US). And, in the true spirit of YMMV, about which we both agree - I'll use this method until there are "no more miles left", so to speak, i.e. make a few bucks on the credit card companies, who seem to be OK (they don't seem to care seeing me spending exclusively in euros, for years) when I make them money, no matter where in the world. Then - if Visa and Mastercard get kicked out of EU (as the intent is) - I'll switch to "kilometers" 😉

 

In , credit card exist (Cartes de paiement adossées à un crédit renouvelable) but are very rare.

 

We opened an with BNP Paribas. They have a person who handles expat s. We were told we had to start the with 15K. Then at the last moment we were told it was 15K each. We were also told the 30K had to stay in there for two months. We did it to open the but weren’t thrilled. I think we got caught in some kind of loop because we weren’t official residents yet, although we had just moved to . I’m still not sure what happened. Looking back, it was confusing but we got the and our debit cards and were happy with that.