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Bank costs 2023: the cheapest bank, according to your profile

Capital unveils its 2023 banking fees, in collaboration with the pan -spa comparator. Price grids of more than 100 establishments have been dissected for 7 customer profiles.

By Alexandre Loukil journalist banks, insurance and energy
Posted on 03/14/2023 at 4:22 p.m

Bruno Le Maire had proudly announced it in September 2022: a “shield” on bank charges will be applied in 2023 by French banks. While they have achieved 30 billion euros in cumulative profits, the six largest establishments on the market have committed to contain the increase in their tariffs to 2% for this year. A level well below 6% inflation measured in January by INSEE. Postal Bank and BNP have frozen their grids, while mutualists such as Crédit Agricole or Crédit Mutuel have undertaken to respect the ceiling decreed by the French Banking Federation (FBF).

According to the panorabanic comparator, their promise has generally been held. The average increase was just 0.3% on January 1, 2023. The French will pay an average of 220.6 euros in costs this year, in particular thanks to the birth of the SG group which made it possible to draw this amount downwards. Coming from the merger between Société Générale and the Northern Credit, this new player in the market allows former customers of the Crédit du Nord to benefit from a drop in their bank charges.

Our 2023 bank rates comparison

However, you will see this moderation on your invoice ? To find out, Capital has set up its traditional list of bank prices. For this 2023 edition, brochures of more than 100 establishments have been dissected thanks to the panorabanic comparator, on February 1, 2023. This simulation is declined according to 7 profiles. For each of them, we compared the à la carte prices and that of the cheapest package. The most interesting banking rate of the two has been selected, and if it is the package, its name is mentioned in the table.

First teaching: the majority of our profiles undergo an average increase in prices exceeding the ceiling of 2%. And first of all the young people, who note inflation of 7% ! Business managers are also poorly housed with an increase of 4% over a year. Follow retirees (+2.6%) and senior managers (+2.1%).

Online banks are the cheapest on the market

Like every year, online banks crush the competition. Boursorama (subsidiary of the Société Générale group) and Fortuneo (Crédit Mutuel Arkéa) are running in mind, and allow almost all of our profiles to benefit from banking services for less than 20 euros per year. Behind, Bforbank, the Crédit Agricole subsidiary, consolidates its most affordable place as a third establishment.

Traditional bank side, three national actors are distinguished. Postal bank, cooperative credit, and, to a lesser extent, LCL. Conversely, CIC (subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel) but above all BNP Paribas and SG are regularly relegated to the end of the peloton.

Finally, on the mutualist segment, Crédit Agricole is clearly displayed as a model in the matter, managing to place most of its regional funds below the average tariffs, and this, all of our profiles. Its competitors from the BPCE group (Banque Populaire-Caisse d’épargne) and Crédit Mutuel do not succeed.

Banks to choose according to your profile

You can consult the complete classification of the cheapest banks for 7 profiles in the links below:

Methodological precision

*For our 7 types of customers – young, employee, “medium” executive, senior executive, trader, business manager, retired -, we have established in collaboration with the panorabanic comparator a consumption profile of daily banking services (type bank card used, transfers, payment incident, withdrawal abroad). For this 2023 edition, our simulations have been improved. Outdoor rates are now established over 365 days, against 360 days for our previous list.

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The cheapest bank

The French pay an average of 194 euros in bank charges (source: Panorabanques study, January 2018). But this average hides large differences between the cheapest and most expensive banks. For some, the bill can explode at the end of the month.
Fees on displaced withdrawals, agios, intervention commissions, newsletter for unauthorized debtor: bankers have their own language and the lines of obscure costs are multiplying in your account in the bank account. Assessment, it is not always easy to find the cheapest bank.
With the Panorabanc online banks comparison service, discover your classification of the cheapest banks and achieve up to 300 euros in savings per year.

How to find the cheapest bank ?

You can compare banks’ offers with a comparator as a panorabanques to find the bank that best suits your needs.

What is the cheapest online bank ?

Boursorama Banque and Fortuneo offer very economical offers: free bank card, no account holding costs or costs on payments abroad.

How to pay less bank charges ?

To reduce your bank charges, you can change the bank. Online banks are generally 3 to 5 times cheaper than traditional banks.

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The cheapest online bank in 2022

Choosing an online bank is usually a good option to save on bank costs. The bank card is often free provided that you use it at least once a month, like at Orange Bank or Fortuneo.

Online banks are among the cheapest banks in France. It is very easy to have a free bank card and pay no account holding costs. Customers of Boursorama Banque paid on average € 7.73 in bank charges in 2022. Very low bank fees with general free free on the fees abroad.

If you don’t want to pay bank charges, turn to Boursorama Banque or Fortuneo is the best solution.

Welcome card

Card subject to use per month

Otherwise 5 € Billed

Free with the Visa Welcome card, Ultim Visa and Visa Ultim Metal

1 free withdrawal per month then 1.69% with the visa welcoma card

Free with the Visa Ultim Metal card

Fosfo card

Card subject to use per month

Otherwise 3 € Billed

Standard card

Card subject to use per month

Otherwise 2 € Billed

2% with the standard mastercard card

Free with the Premium MasterCard card

2% with the standard mastercard card

Free with the Premium MasterCard card

Hello One

Free with the Visa Hello Prime card

Classic visa card

Card subject to three uses per quarter

Otherwise 6 € Billed

Classic visa card

2% with the Visa card of the Pratiq offer

Free with the Visa card of the UNIQ offer+

2% with the Visa card of the Pratiq offer

Free with the Visa card of the UNIQ offer+

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Did you know ?

The French pay on average
194 euros in bank charges
(Source: Panorabanques study, January 2018).

But this average hides large differences between the cheapest and most expensive banks.

For some, the bill can explode at the end of the month.

Which bank is the cheapest ?

Online banks cost between 3 and 5 times cheaper than traditional banks. No account holding or intervention commissions. Above all, your bank card is 100% free ! In contrast, conventional banks invoice average 18.50 euros per year for accounts alone.

But an inexpensive online bank is not the ideal choice for everyone. If you wish to be able to exchange face-to-face with a personal advisor or go to an agency to file a check or pass a transfer, conventional banks are better suited to your needs.
To the question of which bank is the cheapest, there are an infinity of answers. Several factors must be taken into account for find the best bank Whether it is an online bank or a bank with agencies.

If you often travel abroad outside the euro zone, be particularly attentive to the costs that your bank invoices on withdrawals and payments abroad. Again, online banks are distinguished from conventional banks. Operations abroad are for these establishments the subject of a fierce battle for the cheapest bank title.

Cheapest banks on operations abroad	Fixed costs on withdrawals abroad	Proportional costs on withdrawals abroad
Banque Populaire Rives de Paris	€ 3.15	2.92%
Bforbank	0 €	1.95%
BNP Paribas	3 €	2.90%
Balance Bank	0 €	1.94%
Caisse d’Epargne Île de France	3.20%	2.80%
Cic	3 €	2.90%
Crédit Agricole Île de France	3 €	0%
Credit North	€ 4.10	3.10%
Crédit Mutuel Île de France	€ 3.30	2.50%
Fortuneo	0 €	1.94%
Hello Bank!	0 €	2%
HSBC	€ 3.05	2.90%
The postal bank	€ 3.30	2.30%
Online Agende (BNP Paribas)	3 €	2.90%
LCL	3 €	2.85%
Monabanq	0 €	2%
Orange Bank	0 €	2%
Societe Generale	3 €	2.70%

But it is possible to carry out your operations abroad at even lower costs, by turning for example to mobile banks, such as Revolut or N26. You will understand: find a cheap bank goes above all by a good understanding of your banking needs and your habits.

Group service offers

Classic banks offer mostly group service offers – or package – which bring together several banking services at an advantageous rate.
These options can be interesting if the contents of the package corresponds to your banking needs. Thus, some banks offer services whose unit price is very high but is interesting when you opt for a package.
Be careful, however, to ensure that the content of these formulas is well suited to your banking needs. Even if it means finding the cheapest bank, as much as it suits you ! Some banks go further and allow you to compose your own package. This is for example the case of LCL with its LCL à la carte formula.

Your geographic location

The cheapest bank will not necessarily be the same according to the region in which you are. Mutual groups such as Caisse d’Epargne, Banque Populaire, Crédit Agricole or Crédit Mutuel, are thus divided into several regional entities. Although the services offered are the same from one region to another, each fund is free to set its own prices.
An example ? Here is the price of the Liberté bouquet offer in the various regional funds of the Caisse d’Epargne, from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Liberty bouquet prices with an immediate debit visa card (annual subscription)	Liberty bouquet prices with a first visa card with immediate debit (annual subscription)
Caisse d’Epargne Ile-de-France	€ 94.80	€ 166.80
Caisse d’Epargne Loire-Center	€ 102.60	€ 172.80
Caisse d’Epargne Loire-Drome-Ardèche	€ 102.60	€ 177.60
Caisse d’Epargne Bourgogne Franche-Comté	€ 103.20	€ 182.40
Caisse d’Epargne Bretagne – Pays de Loire	€ 103.80	€ 180.00
Caisse d’Epargne Auvergne and Limousin	€ 104.40	€ 180.00
Caisse d’Epargne Rhône-Alpes	€ 104.40	€ 178.80
Caisse d’Epargne Provence-Alpes-Corse	€ 105.00	€ 177.60
Caisse d’Epargne Grand Est Europe	€ 105.60	€ 180.00
Caisse d’Epargne Aquitaine Poitou-Charentes	€ 106.80	€ 176.40
Caisse d’Epargne Normandie	€ 106.80	€ 178.80
Midi-Pyrénées Savings Caisse	€ 108.00	€ 184.80
Caisse d’Epargne Hauts de France	€ 108.00	€ 180.00
Caisse d’Epargne Côte d’Azur	€ 111.60	€ 190.80
Caisse d’Epargne Languedoc Roussillon	€ 114.00	€ 175.20

Your age

Finally, the bank with the lowest costs will not necessarily be the same according to your age. Many banks indeed offer special prices for young people under the age of 25.
Some even devote specific offers to them. Crédit Agricole regional funds, for example, allow young people under 18 to 25 to opt for a Mozaïc payment card, at much more attractive rates than a conventional bank card.
This is the reason why Panorabanques requests your date of birth when you make a bank comparison.

For your child, you can find a free minor bank card in some online or neobank banks.
The first offers generally start at 12 years and allow your children to have a systematic authorization card. Payments and withdrawals abroad are also free at Boursorama Banque et Vybe. A good option if your child goes on a school trip abroad or in linguistic stay.

In summary, the cheapest bank For you will therefore not necessarily be the same as for your cadets or on the contrary, for your elders. Hence the importance of a personalized banking comparison to obtain your own list of the cheapest banks.

Your banking habits

There cheapest bank For you will not be the same as the cheapest bank for your neighbor, family or office colleagues. It all depends on your profile, the services you want to benefit and your banking habits.
A concrete example. You have difficult ends of the month, and your account dives regularly in the red ? In the event of an unauthorized overdraft, know that the banks charge you various incident costs: intervention commissions, agios, information letter for debtor ..
From one bank to another, these costs may vary from simple to triple. Information commissions, for example, are capped at 8 euros per incident. The majority of banking establishments are now aligned with this price, but some good students are an exception. If you are often uncovered, go to one of these banks as a priority:

Cheapest banks on intervention commissions	2021
Crédit Mutuel Maine-Anjou Basse-Normandie	€ 7.70
The postal bank	€ 6.90
Crédit Cooperative	4 €
Balance Bank	0 €
Hello Bank!	0 €
Bforbank	0 €
Orange Bank	0 €
Fortuneo	0 €