Boursorama Banque significantly increases the threshold of monthly income required to obtain a deferred debit card. What about other online banks? Have they become as selective as traditional banks?
Immediate or deferred debit? When you order a new bank card, you don’t always have a choice. Banks are generally more selective when granting a deferred debit card, which allows the debit of operations paid for by card to be deferred until the end of the month and therefore presents an additional risk of layup. It all depends on the assessment of your solvency, but also on your bank’s confidence in you.
This is one more difference with online banks. With them, things are clearer: to be eligible, it suffices, in general, to reach a certain level of monthly net income.
This is the case at Boursorama. Until recently, online banking was even one of the most accommodating in this area: all you had to do was earn 1,500 euros net per month to access deferred debit on your emblematic card, the Visa Ultim. According to INSEE statistics, nearly 8 out of 10 employees reached this salary level in 2021, well below the median salary (2010 euros per month).
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But that was before. From now on, it is the average salary (2520 euros net) that you will have to approach to obtain a Visa Ultim deferred debit. Since a few months, Boursorama raised 2400 euros net per month his eligibility threshold (1). A modification without much impact, explains the online bank MoneyVox, given that the Ultim in deferred debit represent only a tiny part of our new customers.
Hello bank! pole on diffr flow
Are online banks now more reluctant to distribute deferred debit cards? Possible. However, none of Boursorama’s competitors immediately followed the trend. here is a status, as of September 1, 2023, of the conditions of access to diffr debit cards in online banks.
| Bank | Map | Income criterion* |
|---|---|---|
| BforBank | Visa Premier | 1600 euros |
| BforBank | Visa Infinite | 4000 euros |
| Boursorama | Ultimate Visa | 2400 euros |
| Boursorama | Visa Ultimate Metal | 6250 euros |
| Fortuneo | Gold CB Mastercard | 1800 euros** |
| Fortuneo | World Elite CB Mastercard | 4000 euros |
| Hello bank! | Visa HelloPrime | 1000 euros |
| Monabanq | Visa Classic, Premier and Platinum | 1800 euros*** |
* Minimum net monthly income to be eligible
** 1500euros if 10000euros of savings in the bank
*** With domiciliation of all or part of the income and after study of the situation by an advisor
It’s Hello bank! who wins the prize for the most democratic deferred broadband. And by far. His Visa Hello Prime debit diffr card is accessible from 1000 euros monthly net income. It is, on the other hand, paying: 5 euros per month.
1000 euros is much less than BforBank and Fortuneo. At the first, count 1600 euros in monthly income to obtain a Visa Premier debit card; at the second, 1800 euros for a Gold CB Mastercard card.
1800 euros is also the threshold displayed by Monabanq. However, the bank specifies on its website that the deferred debit also requires a study of the situation by the adviser. Another obstacle: access to deferred debit is closed to new customers. They must first equip themselves with an immediate debit card, then wait at least 3 months before requesting a change of debit, billed at 10 euros (2).
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The rare diffr flow on classic cards
The observation is not new: deferred debit, in online banks, is offered exclusively on medium and high-end cards. Entry-level cards, on the other hand, are generally designed for debit the account in real time. The only exception is Monabanq, which offers a Visa Classic card with diffr.
Note, finally, that diffr debit does not exist in nobanks. It’s logical: N26, Revolut or even Ma French Bank do not allow their customers to put their account overdraft, and their cards, even top-of-the-range, are therefore designed to debit the account in real time.
Online banking: where can you still get a conventional diffr debit card?
Why prefer deferred flow?
Rarer, more difficult to access: why prefer deferred flow? In fact, it seems that fewer and fewer users are choosing this option, favoring cards that allow the balance to be kept up to date in real time.
Considered as credit cards in the European nomenclature, they still have some strengths. In addition to being well suited to the budgetary constraints of certain customers, they reduce the risk of non-payment in certain specific cases requiring the deposit of a deposit: hotel room reservations, vehicle rentals, etc.
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(1) Same thing for the top-of-the-range Ultim Metal card: you must now prove 6,250 euros in net monthly income (compared to 4,000 euros previously) to access deferred debit. (2) Except for Uniq+ premium account holders, for whom the switch is free.