Where French founders actually get stuck
The legal rule catches people off guard. If your activity is commercial, a dedicated business account is required from day one, whatever the revenue. For service and craft activities, the obligation starts once turnover passes €10,000 in two consecutive years. Plenty of micro-entrepreneurs open an account before that threshold anyway, simply because a clean statement makes an URSSAF check far less painful.
Then there is the invoicing reform. Since 1 September 2026 every VAT-registered business in France must be able to receive electronic invoices through an approved platform, and larger companies had to start issuing them. Small businesses and micro-enterprises follow from 1 September 2027. A PDF sent by email does not count. That single change has pushed thousands of freelancers to look at providers that hold approved-platform status rather than a plain account with a card.
The third friction point is less visible: what kind of institution you are dealing with. A high-street bank gives you a real branch, a lending relationship and a deposit guarantee up to €100,000 through the FGDR. Most online providers are payment institutions or branches of foreign banks. Your money is held in segregated accounts, often at a large bank, which protects it if the provider fails, but the mechanics differ from a classic deposit guarantee. Worth knowing before you wire a large client payment.
What each price tier really buys
The spread between offers is wide, and the cheapest plan is rarely the cheapest option once your activity grows.
| Provider | Monthly price | French IBAN | Cash deposit | E-invoicing readiness | Best fit | Watch out for |
|---|
| Qonto | €9–€39 excl. VAT | Yes | No | Approved platform | Teams, multi-user accounts, scaling | No cash deposits; €1,000 monthly withdrawal cap on entry plan |
| Shine | €0–€80 | Yes | Limited | Approved platform | Freelancers, micro-enterprises | Payment institution, not a bank |
| Indy | €0 base plan | Yes | No | Compliant | Solo independents who want zero monthly cost | Paid add-ons for bookkeeping and declarations |
| Revolut Business | Tiered, quoted per plan | Yes (multi-currency) | No | Partial, check plan | Cross-border clients, multi-currency invoicing | Support depth varies by plan |
| High-street online pro offer | Package-dependent, quoted individually | Yes | Yes | Varies by bank | Founders who need credit or cash handling | Slower onboarding, higher baseline fees |
Prices move. Qonto's entry tier sits around €9 per month excl. VAT on an annual commitment and closer to €11 month-to-month; Shine's paid tiers run from roughly €11 to €80; Indy keeps a €0 base with paid accounting modules. Treat these as orientation, not quotes, and check the current grid before signing.
Three profiles, three different answers
The solo consultant in Lyon
A graphic designer billing three or four French clients a month needs an IBAN, a card, and invoices that pass the new rules. She does not need multi-user permissions or a €39 plan. For that profile, a €0 monthly tier plus unlimited transfers is usually enough, and the difference in annual cost against a mid-range plan pays for a couple of accounting consultations. One caveat: on zero-cost plans, transfer allowances and cash withdrawal limits are tight, so check the per-transaction fees before assuming the total is zero.
The growing studio in Bordeaux
Once two or three people spend company money, the calculus flips. You need separate cards per person, spending limits, receipt capture, and an export your accountant can read without retyping. This is where Qonto's paid tiers earn their keep, and where a Shine Business plan becomes realistic. A studio owner in Bordeaux described the shift simply: the account stopped being a payment tool and started being the place where the bookkeeping happened.
The exporter in Nantes
If a meaningful share of revenue arrives in dollars or pounds, multi-currency handling matters more than a French IBAN. Revolut Business and similar international-first providers tend to win here. Compare the conversion margin, not just the headline monthly fee, because FX spread is where the real cost hides.
Opening one without losing a week
Gather the basics first: proof of identity, proof of address dated within the last three months, your SIREN or SIRET number, and the company documents that match your legal form (statuts for a SARL or SAS, a Kbis extract where relevant). Missing one item is the most common reason an application stalls.
Then match the provider to your legal structure rather than to the advertising. Some platforms serve all forms including associations and SCI; others specialise in independents and very small businesses. Read the accepted-forms list before you start.
Test the support channel in your first week, ideally with a mundane question. Response time in French, on a weekday, tells you more than any comparison page. Finally, confirm how the provider connects to your accounting workflow. Native integrations with French tools save hours at year-end, and the approved-platform status for e-invoicing should be verified on the official list rather than taken from a landing page.
Start with the €0 or entry tier if your volume is low, and plan the upgrade trigger in advance: number of team members, monthly transfer count, or the first cash deposit you cannot make. Knowing that threshold now saves an unplanned migration later. Compare two providers side by side, open the one that fits your legal form, and give it a month of real transactions before deciding whether the plan is right.
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