The French Rules That Shape Your Choice
Before comparing plans, three local realities decide what you actually need.
A dedicated account is not optional for most companies. Once you incorporate a SARL, SAS or SASU, French practice expects a separate business account. Micro-entrepreneurs are treated differently and are exempt below a turnover threshold, but many open one anyway because suppliers, landlords and platforms ask for a French IBAN. If a bank turns you down, the droit au compte procedure lets Banque de France designate an institution that must open the account.
Electronic invoicing is now part of the banking question. From 1 September 2026, every VAT-registered business in France must be able to receive e-invoices through an approved platform, and larger firms must issue them from that date, with SMEs and micro-enterprises following on 1 September 2027. Your account provider's invoicing module is no longer a nice extra; it is compliance infrastructure.
French payment habits matter more than card design. URSSAF payments, standing orders to suppliers and direct debits all run on SEPA rails, and a French IBAN removes friction that a Lithuanian or Irish IBAN can create with certain payees. This is why an online business bank account in France is usually judged on transfer limits and direct debit handling, not on cashback.
Where new owners get stuck
Three problems show up again and again. Opening at a branch can take weeks and asks for a business plan, while online providers verify identity in days. Cash deposits are almost impossible with digital-only accounts, which hurts cafés, market traders and anyone in the bâtiment sector paid partly in notes. And accounting exports are treated as an afterthought, even though a French expert-comptable will ask for clean journal entries, not screenshots.
Comparing What Is Actually On Offer
Prices below come from published tariff pages and sector comparisons; branch banks rarely publish comparable figures, which is one reason the gap is so wide.
| Provider | Plan and monthly cost (excl. VAT) | French IBAN and card | Transfers included | Accounting and invoicing fit | Suits | Watch-outs |
|---|
| Indy | No monthly charge on the entry plan | Yes, Mastercard | Unlimited SEPA transfers | Invoicing and quotes built into the app, spending categories | Freelancers and micro-entrepreneurs with simple needs | Paid tiers needed for full bookkeeping support |
| Shine | Start at €9, Plus at €20, Business at €60 on annual commitment (€11, €25, €80 rolling) | Yes, Mastercard | 5 SEPA transfers on the entry plan, €0.40 each beyond | Approved e-invoicing platform included, accountant access on higher tiers | Sole traders and small teams that grow slowly | Payment institution, not a bank; funds held outside its balance sheet |
| Qonto | Basic at €9 on annual commitment, €11 rolling; Smart at €19, Premium at €39 | Yes, Mastercard Business | 30 transfers and direct debits on Basic | Strong accounting tools and expense dashboard | TPE and PME with several cards and staff | Trial month required before you commit properly |
| Revolut Business | Tiered plans, pricing by volume | Yes | Volume-based | Payment links, invoicing, plugins | E-commerce and cross-border sellers | Deposit protection sits with its Lithuanian entity |
| BoursoBank Pro | Branch-bank style tariff, varies by profile | Yes | Varies | Standard exports | Owners who want a large retail group behind them | Less hand-holding than a dedicated pro app |
| Traditional branch bank | Package pricing, often quoted per client | Yes | Usually included | Local adviser support | Businesses needing credit lines or cash deposits | Slow onboarding, higher fixed costs |
Names on a comparison table tell you very little. A plan at €9 with 5 transfers looks cheaper than a plan at €19 with 30 until you hit payroll week and start paying per transfer.
Three Owners, Three Different Answers
Sarah runs a freelance design practice in Lyon. She started on a no-cost plan, sent maybe eight transfers a month and paid overage without noticing. When she brought in a collaborator, the sub-account and additional card pushed her into a €20 tier, which was still less than her old branch package. Her advice: count transfers before choosing.
Mehdi sells lighting online from Marseille and invoices customers in euros, pounds and dirhams. Multi-currency balances and payment links mattered more than a French card design, so a tiered international provider worked better for him than the cheapest local option. He keeps a second account for supplier direct debits, because a single frozen card during a chargeback dispute can stall a whole campaign.
Claire, who runs a two-person consultancy in Bordeaux, needed three cards, dual approval on payments and clean exports to her accountant. A €19 tier with 30 transfers covered her, and the accountant's monthly fee dropped because the reconciliation stopped being manual. In Alsace and around Lille, owners with German or Belgian clients often prioritise SEPA speed and invoice formats over app design.
How to Open One Without Losing a Week
- Prepare the file before you apply. Extracts from the company register, statutes, ID documents and proof of address for the beneficial owner, plus a short description of activity.
- Compute twelve-month cost, not the headline price. Add transfer overage, card replacement fees, foreign currency margins and cash deposit charges.
- Confirm the French IBAN and the invoicing platform. Ask directly whether the provider appears on the tax authority's approved platform list, since receiving e-invoices becomes mandatory this September.
- Test support in French and English. Call once before signing and note the wait. A cheap business bank account in France becomes expensive when payroll fails on the 28th.
- Set transfer ceilings and approvals early. Daily limits that felt generous at signup block a supplier payment six months later.
- Use local help. Your expert-comptable, the regional CCI, French Tech hubs in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille, and Banque de France branches all field questions on accounts and credit mediation.
One detail worth sorting on day one: whether your accountant can pull statements automatically. Almost every business account with accounting software integration in France advertises the feature, but the useful test is whether your accountant's specific tool is listed, not whether the provider has a generic export button.
A Final Nudge Before You Sign
Pick the smallest plan that covers your real monthly transfer count and your card count, then revisit it after two payroll cycles rather than after two years. Keep the refusal path in reserve: if an application stalls without written reasons, the right to an account exists and a Banque de France branch will explain how to use it. And if your accountant has not seen the tariff sheet yet, send it over now, because their opinion on exports and invoicing will save you more money than any welcome offer on the comparison pages.
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