What is the online banking offer at La Poste worth?


It is one of the most popular banks in France, especially for its local network. But above all, La Banque Postale had a lot to do to develop its offers, by embracing the digital trend of recent years. So, has the historical establishment been able to make its banking service a must in the face of competition? Answer in this review.

The characteristics of La Banque Postale

? Opening bonusNone
? Income requirementNone
? Bank cardVISA
? Initial deposit20 €
? Account maintenance fees€1.10 per month
? Sponsorship Yes
? AppAndroid / iOS
? Mobile paymentApple Pay / Paylib / Samsung Pay
? 3D SecureYes

La Banque Postale in a nutshell

In almost 16 years of existence, La Banque Postale has become one of the most popular public banking establishments, partly due to the fact that it has the obligation to provide a basic banking service to all. The bank has been able to develop its offer over the years to address companies and professionals via more suitable banking products. Today, the bank has about eleven million customers and tries to draw inspiration from online banks and neobanks, particularly on the subject of digital, Ma French Bank is a good example.

Traditional bank rates and therefore expensive

Contrary to what we can see from online banks or neobanks, La Banque Postale has opted for the simplicity of reading its offer. No level with different rates and services, there are only two possibilities: open an individual account or a joint account, with Alliatys or Alliatys Plus insurance and with a Visa Classic, Visa Premier, Visa Platinum or Visa Infinite card.

The only originality concerns the Réalys card with systematic authorization and with basic banking services still authorizing payments abroad (in Europe) and with a payment ceiling over 7 days of 450 euros and withdrawals of 800 euros.

Note that it is possible to open an account for a minor from the age of 12 with a free subscription and full parental control. The latter is however much less practical than the offer of Ma French Bank.

La Banque Postale does not offer a free offer. Here are the annual rates of the different VISA cards:

  • VISA Classic: 43 euros/year
  • VISA Premier: 129 euros/year
  • VISA Platinum: 190 euros/year
  • VISA Infinite: 320 euros/year

These are prices comparable to what can be found at traditional banks such as LCL or SG. Note, however, that some of the most common services are well paid and can increase the bill in some cases. This is particularly the case for withdrawal transactions (0.85 euro/withdrawal from the 4th monthly withdrawal), account maintenance in the event of inactivity (25 euros/year) or even fees of 2.30% on transactions in foreign currencies (3.30 euros per withdrawal and 1 euro per payment). Note all the same that the Banque Postale is one of the few traditional banks to offer instant transfers (even to an external account) completely free of charge, this was part of the paid services previously.

How to fund your account?

This is one of the most practical points of this bank: take advantage of the entire Post Office network to manage your money physically. In the majority of branches with the banking service of the Post Office, it is possible to deposit checks and cash very easily.

Apart from this physical contribution that many need, it is of course possible to make transfers from another account in the same name, without limitation, as long as it is domiciled in France. Everything happens from the application, not smoothly, we will see later. La Banque Postale also uses Paylib to manage the transfer of money by simple telephone number, although we would have liked the possibility of sending money directly by SMS without going through the application.

An online account in minutes

Opening an account with La Banque Postale is very simple, accessible and can be done in a few minutes. The steps are always clear with few fields to fill in and it is always well explained, at least on the web platform. Recently, theupload of documents via photocopy or photo is also possible. This is one of the good points inherited from online banks.

The effective opening of the account occurs after a few days and the documents are sent directly to your home. A single card payment or ATM withdrawal is enough to activate the card definitively.

We still regret the fact that it is still impossible to open an account from the mobile application of the Postal Bank.

Beware of overdrafts

The initial payment to open an account (online or in a branch) is a minimum of 20 euros. This money can then be used at will and no additional costs are deducted during the operation.

As it is a public interest bank, overdrafts are well authorized and management and set-up costs are free. However, the use of the overdraft is subject to debit interest (agios) collected quarterly and calculated according to the rate in force. These rates are also among the lowest on the market with a rate exceeding the authorized overdraft of 17.00%, where others easily exceed 20%.

No opening bonus…

La Banque Postale does not have a commercial offer dedicated to customer acquisition. Opening an account does not entitle you to any bonus or even temporary benefits such as free monthly contributions or loyalty refunds. On the other hand, it may occasionally happen that the Postal Bank offers special operations via partnerships with external companies to offer smartphones or other devices as gifts.

… but a unique sponsorship program

Unlike other online banks who swear by bonuses in the form of money, the La Banque Postale sponsorship program consists of rewards in the form of gifts for both the sponsor and the godson. In the lot of gifts available, we have connected watches, mixer robots, headphones or Bluetooth speakers.

Insurance, offers and services of Société Générale

Despite its reputation as a bankfor the less fortunate», La Banque Postale is indeed a partner of the VISA organization which issues cards with various insurance packages. Inevitably, the VISA Premier, Platinum and Infinite cards are advantageous if you plan to travel abroad because of the guarantees they offer: support for repatriation in the event of an accident, compensation in the event of a plane delay and loss of baggage, etc.

La Banque Postale offers its own loan system via consumer credit to make heavy purchases such as a car or do work. The simulator allows you to adjust the amount according to your needs. There is even the possibility for students to take out a loan with preferential rates. Classic savings solutions as well as an insurance/provident section complete the picture.

Finally a real cashback system

La Banque Postale previously offered a cashback service via its postal services, in particular via Colissimo: stamps to be printed or physical products offered by La Poste. it was also possible to obtain rewards in the form of reduction codes via the partner platform Reduction Privée.

But the postal bank is back in 2023 with this time a real cashback service as found in many online banks. This program concerns more than 300 everyday consumer brands, in particular major brands as well as merchants offering responsible products. As soon as we reach 5€ of validated cashback, 3 choices are open to us:

  • the payment of the kitty to his La Banque Postale current account, or that of a third party holding a current account at La Banque Postale, such as that of a child;
  • donating the kitty to partner associations of La Banque Postale, such as the League for the Protection of Birds or the Restos du Coeur association;
  • the conversion of the pot to contribute to a reforestation project in France.

Strawberry customer service

It is essentially in customer service that the Postal Bank still has work to do. Although it was previously managed by the postal services within the post offices themselves, the service has its own employees (customer service representatives and financial advisors).

On the other hand, the comments concerning the efficiency of La Banque Postale’s customer service are still very critical: between the fact of not being able to obtain an adviser by telephone without waiting for hours and the fact of having no response by e-mail or messages sent by the application even after a few days, there is frankly a lack of this side. It’s a shame when you see the efforts made in other areas in recent years.

Not a crypto-friendly bank

La Banque Postale is also not one of those banks with flexibility in the field of cryptocurrencies. There is therefore no portfolio or services going in this direction and even less online brokerage. This is hardly surprising, however, coming from a public banking establishment.

An app that is improving, but there is still work to do

The La Banque Postale application has been reviewed from an ergonomic point of view compared to previous versions. On Android as on iOS, the design remains basic and in the colors of the bank, but at least has the merit of providing good readability of the options and functions with a quick menu placed at the bottom of the screen. Everything has greatly improved in speed and fluidity, even if some menus still take a little time to display all the elements. We sometimes have the impression of being in front of a web app rather than a real full-fledged application. Fortunately, it is finally possible to open an account from the application.

Concretely, it is possible to consult your accounts (of course), make transfers, manage your bank cards, order your checkbooks, manage your ceilings or even consult your outstanding mortgage or personal loans via the bank’s offers. It still relies on Apple Pay, Paylib or Samsung Pay to provide mobile payments via NFC, but Google Wallet is still not on the program.

Despite the presence of a consumption graph (ultra-classic), the application does not offer automatic categorization of expenses, no real-time statement of expenses, or even transaction notification (the latter moreover take 24 hours before being posted on the account). We are therefore still far from the current standards of the largest online banks. An ultra-classic application that struggles to stand up to comparison with certain traditional banks, which are much more advanced on this point.



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