Some banks require the holding of a current account to fund a savings account (Livret A, LEP, bank book, etc.). They no longer have the right since November 23. Explanations.
Can you be forced to keep a current account in the bank where you hold your savings accounts? This question, many savers ask themselves. Those, for example, who have chosen to use an online bank or a nobank on a daily basis, which consume less bank fees, while keeping savings accounts (Livret A, LEP, CEL, bank books, etc.) in their old bank. Often out of convenience, sometimes also out of constraint. Few, for example, are the online banks offering the People’s Savings Account to their customers.
If the question arises, it is also because, until now, the answer was not clear. Some banks, the most numerous, refuse that their customers feed their passbooks by transfer from a current account held in another bank. What comes back to them impose to keep a current account, often paying, to channel the money intended for their savings accounts. Others, which are rarer, are more tolerant: they accept this type of transaction, provided that this external current account is held by the same person.
All of them, however, rely on the same regulatory text to justify their practices: a general decision, dating from… 1969! An old text, therefore, and sufficiently ambiguous in its formulation to lead to differences in interpretation.
Transfer: what you are no longer allowed to do with your money
The Minister of the Economy has decided. A judgment, published in Official newspaper November 23, 2022 (1), amended the 1969 text to clarify it. In its new wording, it clearly authorizes users to fund their passbook from a current account in their name held in another bank, whatever it may be.
Result: In practice, since the entry into force (…) of the judgment (…), no bank can any longer impose the maintenance or opening of a current account on the holder of a regulated savings account and/or a passbook account held in the same establishmentcomments the Banque de France on its ABE Info Service website.
Comparative savings books : 8 offers compare, up 3% yield
Obstacles that may remain
If you are concerned, wait a bit before closing your current account. In practice, some obstacles are likely to remain as banks adapt their practices to the new framework. Starting with theaccess to savings account IBAN in question, essential for making transfers there.
To limit transfers from outside, many banks hide this account number. This was so far the case, for example, of Crédit Agricole, one of the few banks to have agreed to answer our questions on the subject. His communication, in an email dated September 30, confirmed this to us: With the exception of the Livret A which benefits from special regulations, we do not provide customers with IBANs for their savings accounts.
Why is my bank hiding my savings account IBAN?
Another obstacle: the rules put in place by the banks to regulate transfers. Here again, the policies differ according to the signs. However, some interfaces are configured to prevent transfers of money to passbooks held elsewhere. Again, this should be fixed, but it may take a while.