Demandings for a bank account in France.

To open a bank account, you need : valid proof of identity (passport works best) , proof of residency in France (water/electricity bill; lease), and a valid residence permit in France.
You need to book an appointment with the bank to create the account and it will involve a lot of paper work so be prepared to be there for some time.
Banks opening times may differ to your home country as in France they are usually open 9-5 with about a 2 hour break at midday Monday to Friday and then only for the morning on Saturdays.
Good luck with the move!

Thank you very much. I might need to open the bank account before I receive the house bills. In this case what can I do?

If you have the documentation from renting/buying the accommodation like the lease that should work.

If you have not got the accommodation sorted yet, then you can ask the bank to give you a form which you can ask the person you are staying with to sign.

I don't know how it works if you are staying in a hotel/air bnb but I am sure the bank will give you a form to fill in when you explain the situation.

You should try getting in touch with the bank by phone or email to explain the situation before you arrive there!

Nice! Thank you very much for the useful tips

Perhaps the first bill you can pay by cheque to the agency (if they let you) and afterwards you can bring your first bill to the bank.

My bank (credit agricole) was quite strict and they did not even accepted a note from the insurance of my house where my name was written or my house contract. It can be complicated with some banks.

My boyfriend, however opened an account with bursorama and it was simpler (however, their customer service is not amazing...it,s a bank online and they rarely respond to customer queries...)

You may need to inform yourself about the banks in France, as not all of them are good...

Thank you very much for the information. Yeah I agree, I need to choose carefully the bank but I don't know what happens in France so can you recommend any bank?

That,s a difficult response, because you may look at the banks according with what you expect as a customer.

I am with credit agricole and it,s ok. I read a lot of complaints, but my experience, so far is good. They,re quite strict with the law and with the opening of a new bank account, and extremely secured (to change my phone number trough internet they sent me a letter to my house to make sure it wasn,t a pirate who did it for me)

It,s not the cheapest account though...that,s where people chooses one bank over another...for me this one was ok. A friend of mine has la banque postal, but I heard is quite basic (as is the post at the same time they may have very little time for your queries and you may have to wait long... However, la banque postal is cheap for what I heard...not sure)
You have lots of banks, Bnp paribas, Axa, Bankinter, Bursorama (other bank that my partner has, and his customer experience wasn,t terrible, but wich fees are lower than the traditional banks because is an online bank- less staff members to pay, less fees...)

About the others, perhaps anyone else in this forum can give their opinion...