Certain price lines, very expensive and with very variable costs depending on the brand, suggest that the prices of banking products and services are set arbitrarily or with a punitive perspective, without link to their real cost for the bank. Our top 5 of these most visibly unfair prices.
Comparability of bank rates, capping of certain fees, detection of vulnerable customers, change of bank… Under pressure from consumer associations and public authorities, French retail banks have adopted, in recent years, some positive measures for their customers.
However, the practices that made France one of the most expensive European countries for banking services have not all disappeared. By digging a little into the brochures, and comparing them to each other, we still find many tariff lines which the legislators have not been interested in and which the banks do what they want.
Products and services with sometimes vague names, often very expensive and displaying abysmal price differences from one brand to another, giving the impression that the price displayed does not reflect the reality of the production cost for the bank. Tariff lines, in summary, whose invoicing appears arbitrary and unfair. Here is a selection.
Estate processing fees
- Cheapest bank: 0euro
- Average price: 210 euros
- Most expensive bank: 450 euros
For a simple inheritance of 15,000 euros
Receipt of the death certificate, declaration of assets to the tax authorities, separation of a possible joint account… Nobody disputes that the death of a client and the transfer of his assets to the beneficiaries, within the framework of the opening an inheritance, represents additional work, deserving of salary, for the bank which keeps the accounts. How can we explain, on the other hand, that this service, the cost of which must be approximately the same everywhere, displays prices so heterogeneous from one bank to another.
According to our recent survey, a simple succession (1) of 15,000 euros The bill is 0…450 euros depending on the bank. There is better: within the same mutual bank network, the price difference can go from 1 to 5 depending on the region in which you live: 390 euros in Languedoc versus 75 euros in the North East.
These inheritance costs, particularly cruel since they weigh on bereaved people, are also a good example of the pricing creativity of banks. You find everything in the brochures: banks that charge a fixed priceothers proportional fees the amount of the inheritance; some banks cap these fees, others do not; and, icing on the cake, banks which specifically charge the account transfer of the DCD that of the beneficiary… but only if the latter is a customer of another bank! The public authorities would undoubtedly be legitimate to bring some order.
Inheritance bank fees: the broken promise of banks
The costs associated with holding a real estate loan
- Cheapest bank: 0euro
- Most expensive bank: 250 euros
To change the monthly payment withdrawal date
In terms of creativity, additional costs linked to real estate credit are not left out The Observatory of Banking Tariffs (OTB) has also devoted an entire chapter to them in its 2023 report. There are of course the application fees, invoiced by the bank for the study and preparation of the credit file. They are offered in a few rare banks, but most often represent 1% of the amount borrowed.
But other fees may be charged during the repayment of this loan. And the list is long. Do you want to renegotiate the rate or change the duration of your credit? It will cost you endorsement fee, between 1000 and 2250 euros for a remaining capital of 150,000 euros. In some mutual banks, you will also pay additional adjustment compensation (up to 6 months of interest), or renegotiation study fees.
You wish change the withdrawal date of your monthly payment? Around sixty banks allow you to do this, according to the OTB. But only three do it for free. Others? The price of this operation (which we can assume is not very complex to implement) for a bank ranges from 5.10 euros … 250 euros!
The list is not exhaustive. The OTB also identified costs linked to the modification of the debit account, the request for reimbursement statement, the redaction of an amortization table and the edition of various certificates (end of loan, maturity deferrals, etc.). ). Each time, the bill ranges from 0 euros in the most generous (or reasonable) banks to several tens of euros.
The ranking of the cheapest banks
Joint account uncoupling fees
- Cheapest bank: 0euro
- Most expensive bank: 54euros
Are you separating from your partner? You may need to go through a uncoupling of joint account, which will allow you to no longer hold the previously shared account. A simple formality? On paper, yes. But this service is frequently billed, and can, again, give the impression that your bank is trying to profit from your hard moves. Especially since here again, arbitrariness seems to be the norm for setting the price of the service.
The separation of joint accounts is therefore free in several banks in the panel used for this article. (2). Elsewhere, in a mutual bank, the operation costs 9.50 in a regional bank, 54 euros in another of the same network. What justifies such a price difference? Difficult to say.
Document search fees
- Cheapest bank: 0euro
- Most expensive bank: 37.30 euros
For a search for an archived document for more than a year
Do you absolutely need to consult an old account statement, but you can’t find it? Can’t get your hands on an old direct debit authorization? You may have to ask your bank for a search in its archives. Logically, it is not free: the operation will require the intervention of an advisor, which deserves remuneration.
But how much should we estimate the cost of this intervention? Here again, for the same intervention, the billing methods vary – the page, the entire document, according to the age, etc. – and very different prices. Searching for an archived document older than a year is therefore free in a well-known online bank. But this is the exception: the operation is chargeable everywhere else, up to 37.30 euros in a large national brand.
Fees related to payment incidents
- Cheapest bank: 0euro
- Average price: 31.06 euros
- Most expensive bank: 182.40 euros per year
For notification of a banking ban by another establishment
The tariff lines presented so far have one thing in common: the triggering events (a death, a divorce, a credit renegotiation) do not happen every day. These costs will therefore only be incurred once or twice in a lifetime. This is not the case, however, for fees sanctioning account operating incidents: intervention commissions, rejection costs, etc. To limit the impact of these costs, massively charged to already vulnerable households, public authorities have had to intervene, or even legislate, by capping the price of the intervention commission, among other things.
All the costs generated by a payment incident, however, are not regulated, far from it. Example with the notification of a banking ban by another establishment, invoiced by the bank when it receives information from the Banque de France that one of its clients is subject to a ban on issuing checks.
The cost of this simple registration varies greatly from one brand to another. It is sometimes (rarely) free, but costs 52 euros in a regional bank. Worse, some brands apply periodic fees: the person continues to pay as long as they remain banned from banking. In this case, the costs can rise to 182.40 euros per year!
The staggering cost of overdraft fees charged by your bank
(1) Simple inheritance, including deposit accounts (view, savings) and two products in the following list: life and non-life insurance, capitalization contract, credits, various assistance (guarantee, debtor account), securities ( securities account, PEA), PEL (not expired), professional account, safes, digital safe. (2) For the purposes of this article, we examined the pricing practices of around twenty brands: regional mutual banks, commercial banks and 100% online banks.