One of France’s leading high street banks has introduced new admin fees of up to €300 a year on second-home owners and other non-resident account holders.
Another bank is also doubling fees for certain clients who live abroad.
Several Connexion readers report seeing new fees on bank statements for the first time this autumn.
One, who has a home in Brittany, said it came without notification: “With my lack of prior knowledge, I deem it a stealth tax. It seems unfair and discriminatory.”
Société Générale’s new ‘administration fees for non-residents’ are €300/year for non- residents in America and €200/year for the UK.
They are paid in quarterly levies and are on top of a standard charge of €28.80 a year for holding an account.
Several UK-resident readers were shocked to see a €50 quarterly debit leaving their accounts, described as frais gestion non-résident EAI.
The bank’s tariffs brochure, dated July 1, lists three levels of non-resident fees.
The lowest band is for people tax-resident in the EU, the second is for those in a non-EU country that has signed agreements on the Automatic Exchange Of Information – AEOI (échange automatique d’information – EAI), and the highest is for those who live elsewhere.
The AEOI, overseen by international body OECD, means countries automatically share information with each other on residents’ assets/incomes: 120 countries have signed up, with the notable exception of the US.
The US already receives information via its ‘Fatca’ rules, under which countries provide information about their American clients.
If asked, the US often reciprocates by giving data to other countries about their citizens with accounts in the US, but it is not automatic.
Connexion readers affected
One Briton with a home in Brittany described Société Générale’s fees as a “tax on non- residents’ accounts”.
He said it came as a surprise, and even his bank manager had not been aware of it.
He asked: “Is this an EU edict?” On the contrary, this is a fee levied by Société Générale. It is not a tax and is not related to a decree by the EU or France.
Reader John Anderson, who has owned a second home and bank account in Limousin for 18 years, said: “A few years ago, the branch was acquired by Société Générale and since then there have been changes, culminating recently with us getting a €50 charge with no explanation: frais gestion non-résident EAI.
“We are retired in the UK and do not earn anything in France. Is this now standard for all banks? If it is only SG, we will change.”
Mr Anderson said he would welcome hearing others’ experiences about such fees and which banks “welcome UK residents who need to pay utility bills and property tax”.
Reader Steve Last said he was “surprised to find a new €49.99 charge on my SG statement”, adding that “it follows a request earlier in the year for proof that I am not resident in France and pay my taxes overseas”.
“I provided a UK bank statement. I am shocked I am now going to have to pay €200 a year for the privilege of paying my second-home owner bills.”
A Société Générale spokeswoman said: “The bank regularly adapts its offers to respond to client needs. In this context, fees can evolve.
“The fee applicable to clients who are not French fiscal residents has thus been adjusted on July 1 to allow it to be adapted to the specific services deployed by the bank.”
She said that clients had been told two months before, but did not specify if this was individually or via placing the brochure online.
A review of brochures of other high street banks did not show a specific ‘non-residents’ administration’ charge, and while some charge non-residents more than residents for holding an account (frais de tenue de compte), none amounted to the level of Société Générale’s combined account holding and administration fees.
The highest we saw was at BNP Paribas, where non-residents’ account-holding fees are €60 in the EU (€120 from January), €120 for non-EU EAI, and €180 for non-EAI. This com- pares to €32.20 for residents.
Société Générale levied €60/ year in account-holding fees for non-residents in 2023, with no additional fee, which increased to €100 by the start of this year.
'Discriminatory... but not illegal'
Meriem Jammali, president of banking consumer association SOS Litiges Banques & Assurances, said banks are free to fix their fees and, while they must communicate changes, this can be via their website.
“We see discriminatory practices towards people who are not French fiscal residents.
“But they result from commercial policies and are not ‘illegal discrimination’, as defined in the penal code. Banks justify fees by extra administrative tasks and checks.
“We cannot predict banks’ future reactions, but the multiplication of online banks and neobanks such as Revolut and Wise might perhaps incite them to rethink tariff conditions and adapt more to their clients’ mobility and new ways of living.”
Her association has helped some clients to obtain a partial reimbursement of such fees, she said.
“One must always check statements and annual fees.”
If comparing banks, also bear in mind factors such as any fees for receiving transfers from outside the EU. Some banks even apply these on transfers from the UK post-Brexit despite it remaining in the Sepa zone.
Links to tariff brochures can be found on banks’ websites.
In recent years, some banks closed a number of non-residents’ accounts including some Crédit Agricole branches, which advised UK-based clients to move to its Britline online bank.
