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
- 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
- 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.
