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Credit Cards in France

Credit Cards in France

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Different options, choosing credit cards and the different uses of credit cards and methods of acquiring the cards

There are different types of credit cards, also known as “carte de credit”, in France. By 2019 there were nearly 68 million of them in circulation. After the effects of Covid-19, the credit card is now the dominant payment method. The major International credit cards available are Visa and MasterCard. The American express and other cards are not so much used in France. They also have local credit cords commonly known as Blue cards within France. Different cards serve different purposes and each will have its own advantages and disadvantages, and here in this article we outline the differences between them.

Different Credit Cards in France.

The following Cards are available in France:

[This information can be accessed here: [https://cartes-credit.fr]

International

  1. Visa

1.      Visa Sofinco avec Orchestra

2.      Visa Premier LCL

3.      Visa Premier Hellobank

4.      Visa Premier du Crédit Agricole

5.      Visa Premier de la Société Générale

6.      Visa Premier de la Caisse d’épargne

7.      Visa Premier de BNP Paribas

8.      Visa Premier CIC

9.      Visa premier Cetelem

10.  Visa Premier Boursorama

11.  Visa Premier BforBank

12.  Visa Premier AXA

13.  Visa Platinum de la Caisse d’Épargne

14.  Visa infinite LCL

15.  Visa Infinite de la Société Générale

16.  Visa Infinite de la Caisse d’épargne

17.  Visa infinite de BNP Paribas

18.  Visa Infinite CIC

19.  Visa Infinite BforBank

20.  Visa Electron Sensea de la Caisse d’Épargne

21.  Visa électron Hellobank

22.  VISA Electron de BNP Paribas

23.  Visa Cléo LCL

24.  Visa Classic Hellobank

25.  Visa Classic du Crédit Agricole

26.  Visa Classic de la Société Générale

27.  Visa Classic de la Caisse d’épargne

28.  Visa Classic de BNP Paribas

29.  Visa Classic CIC

30.  Visa Classic Cetelem: payez en 1x ou en plusieurs mois

31.  Visa Classic Boursorama gratuite

32.  Visa Classic BforBank

33.  Visa Classic AXA gratuite avec paiement jusqu’à 2000€

34.  Visa Classic à débit immédiat de Boursorama

 

  1. MasterCard

1.      Mastercard Zéro Gold

2.      Mastercard World Elite

3.      Mastercard World Elite CIC

4.      Mastercard Viabuy prépayée

5.      Mastercard Transcash prépayée

6.      Mastercard Société Générale

7.      Mastercard Skrill

8.      Mastercard Revolut

9.      Mastercard prépayée Veritas

10.  Mastercard Platinum + LCL

11.  Mastercard Paytop

12.  Mastercard Neteller ou carte virtuelle Mastercard

13.  MasterCard Mozaïc du Crédit Agricole

14.  Mastercard mineur MaCarteLCL

15.  Mastercard Inventive LCL

16.  Mastercard Gold ING

17.  Mastercard Gold Fortuneo gratuite

18.  Mastercard Gold du Crédit Agricole

19.  Mastercard Gold de la Société Générale

20.  Mastercard Gold CIC

21.  Mastercard Fortuneo standard

22.  Mastercard Classic du Crédit Agricole

23.  Mastercard CIC

24.  Mastercard Anytime

25.  La carte Aurore

26.  Carte Visa Monabanq Classic

27.  Carte VISA Infinite Hello Bank

28.  Carte LCL ISIC MasterCard

Local

There are over 24 local credit cards within France which include the following:

1.      Anytime

2.      Aurore

3.      AXA

4.      Bforbank

5.      BNP Paribas

6.      Boursorama

7.      Caisse d’épargne

8.      Cetelem

9.      CIC

10.  Crédit Agricole

11.  Fortuneo

12.  Hello Bank !

13.  ING

14.  LCL

15.  Monabank

16.  Neteller

17.  Paytop

18.  Revolut

19.  Skrill

20.  Société Génerale

21.  Sofinco

22.  Transcash

23.  Veritas

24.  ZERO

Credit cards

A credit card in France can either be a standard card given in banks, or one given by a private company. If provided by a private company, then you are only able to usenthe cards in the company’s stores. They have the additional function of being used as loyalty cards which give you priority service within the company’s selling points.

Cartes Bancaires

Cartes Bancaires  is a CB Bank card group in Francewhose main objective is to regulate how bank cards are optimised for smooth interbanking  nationwide. If your find yourself with a card without the CB logo, chances are that it might not be accepted by most stores , shops and other businesses in France. Businesses that accept the Cartes Bancaires  has the CB logo stickers on them.

Comparing Mastercard vs Visa

Mastercard and Visa are worldwide companies that offer products that are quite similar. Visa and Mastercards are widely spread in France and you should have no problem as a foreigner acceding financial services regardless of which card you go for.

All you should concern yourself is the charges imposed by banks and the offers that each of those banks offer. Some of the banks you will find will also cap amount of daily withrawals that you can make.

Besides the similarities of the two mentioned cards, there are some differences that are important for you to be aware of. One such difference is that Gold Mastercard provides  access to more services in the commerce in France.

Some of the services that you can access with a Mastercard in France include the following:

6 Credit cards:

  • The Standard Credit Card
  • The Gold Credit Card
  • The Titanium Credit Card
  • The Platinum Credit Card
  • The World Credit Card
  • The World Elite Credit Card

3 Debit cards:

  • The Standard Debit Card
  • The Platinum Debit Card
  • The Gold Debit Card
  • The World Debit Card

A standard prepaid card.

On the Other hand, with a Visa in France you get the following services:

  • The Visa Infinite
  • The Visa Platinum and Platinum Business
  • The Visa Premier
  • The Visa Classic
  • The Visa Electron
  • The Visa Gold Business
  • The Visa Business
  • The Visa e-Carte Bleue
  • The Visa V Pay
  • A Prepaid Visa card

Choosing  a Credit card in France

Things you should think about as you search for a credit card in France may include things like:

  • Price of the card
  • Whether it is a standard card, premium or elite
  • Check that the card is indeed a credit card and not for payment, or prepaid or even one with no account
  • Also check whether the payment of the card is immediate or deferred
  • Confirm the availability of the card you want to use in the bank you will be using.