Red faces at the green bank…

Back from a foreign vacation? Then it might pay to look closely at your bank statement for the period in question. Almost certainly you made payments with your bank card while abroad—and it’s quite likely your bank has slapped on a commission. Illegally. This particular scam has been exposed by a Brit, John Vernon, a company executive living at Epinay-sur-Orge in the Essonne.

About a year ago Vernon noticed that Crédit Agricole was charging him for every transaction when he used his card outside of France and he decided to take them to court on the grounds that such charges were nowhere specified in any printed document issued by the bank. The court ruled in his favour, arguing that the bank had made a unilateral change in its contract with clients concerning their cards. Legal experts say that Crédit Agricole is unlikely to succeed if they appeal and that the same principle can be applied to Société Générale’s recent decision to impose a charge for withdrawals from ATM’s not in their own branches.

Of course, the banks will eventually write such commissions into their contracts. Even though, despite a troubled economy, they turned in decent profits last year, they are continually wailing about the heavy costs they have to bear. One particular grievance they have concerns the fondness of the French for writing cheques, even for small amounts. According to recent figures, 70 per cent of all cheques issued in Euroland are written in France. Processing these is a heavy burden. The solution, the banks hope, will be the Moneo card I wrote about in our last issue. This is a debit card especially designed for small purchases—newspaper, candy bar, pack of cigarettes—and should obviate the need to carry those eurocentimes. It’s just being introduced. Ask at your bank. 

From Reporter 93 - Oct/Nov 2002

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