The short answer for expats
ExpatMoneyEU verdict: Fortuneo is our default pick — its Fosfo card is free with no income requirement and charges zero foreign transaction fees on every card tier, so travellers pay nothing extra abroad. BoursoBank (Boursorama) is the fallback — choose it if you want much higher payment and withdrawal limits and France's top-rated banking app.
BoursoBank — still widely known by its old name, Boursorama Banque — and Fortuneo are the two names that come up in almost every conversation about free banking in France. Both are online banks with no monthly fee on their standard cards, both give you a French IBAN, and both are backed by large French banking groups: BoursoBank by Société Générale, Fortuneo by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa.
The honest starting point is the same for both: neither is a first-week account for a newcomer with no French paperwork. In practice both banks ask for French residency and a French proof of address, and both expect you to fund the first deposit from an existing French or European IBAN. If you have just arrived, open N26 first — it gives you a working account in minutes — and switch to BoursoBank or Fortuneo once your French paperwork exists. This guide compares the two on what matters to expats at that second stage: what is genuinely free, what it costs to spend abroad, how high the limits go, and who can actually open an account.
Key fact: The average French person pays about €191 a year in bank fees, according to the Panorabanques 2026 barometer — and the Banque de France Bank Fee Observatory reported in June 2026 that bank fees rose 2.7% year on year. A genuinely free online account is the simplest way for an expat to avoid that bill entirely.
→ Best Bank Accounts in France for Expats — November 2026 Guide
Shared-criteria comparison: Boursorama vs Fortuneo
| Criteria | BoursoBank (Boursorama) | Fortuneo |
|---|---|---|
| Standard card | Welcome card — free, no conditions | Fosfo card — free, no income requirement |
| Monthly fee | €0 on Welcome and Ultim cards | €0 — no monthly fee, no minimum deposit |
| Payment ceiling | About €5,000/month (Welcome); about €20,000/month (Ultim) | About €2,000/month (Fosfo) |
| Cash withdrawals | About €500/week (Welcome); about €2,000/week (Ultim) | About €500/month (Fosfo); free unlimited withdrawals worldwide |
| Foreign transaction fees | 1.69% on withdrawals outside the eurozone after the first free one (Welcome) | Zero on all card tiers |
| Premium card | Metal — €9.90/month, about €50,000/month ceiling, free unlimited withdrawals worldwide | Gold and World Elite Mastercard — free with income conditions |
| Welcome bonus | Up to €160 (promotional — check the current offer) | Up to €250 (promotional — check the current offer) |
| US citizens / residents | Not accepted | Reported to accept US citizens and residents |
| First deposit from | EU IBANs accepted — the only French online bank that does, per Selectra 2026 | French IBAN required in practice |
| Customer rating | About 4.4/5 from 55,800+ reviews (Asal Media, Aug 2026) | About 3.7/5 from 17,600+ reviews (Asal Media, Aug 2026) |
| Banking group | Société Générale group | Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group, regulated by the AMF and ACPR |
| Deposit protection | Up to €100,000 (FGDR) | Up to €100,000 (FGDR) |
Limits, bonuses and fees are approximate and change over time — verify the current terms on each bank's official website. Welcome bonuses are promotional and may change or end without notice.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links below may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you — see our affiliate disclosure.
Ready to open a free French account? These are our top picks for this comparison — free to open, no monthly fee on the standard plans:
Open Fortuneo Account →Open BoursoBank Account →Open N26 Account →→ How to Open a Bank Account in France as an Expat — 2026 Guide
How we compared: the methodology
How we compared
Fees and features checked: each bank's published price list and card terms, plus the November 2026 expat banking comparison tables. Criteria and weights: free everyday banking (25%), foreign fees and travel use (25%), payment and withdrawal limits (20%), who can open an account (15%), app and customer experience (10%), deposit protection (5%). Verdicts are the editorial judgment of the ExpatMoneyEU Research Team — not financial advice, and never ranked by commission. Worked fee examples are illustrative figures; always verify current fees with the provider before opening an account.
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1. BoursoBank (Boursorama) — the high-limits pick
BoursoBank (Boursorama Banque)
BoursoBank is France's largest online bank and the digital brand of the Société Générale group. Its free Welcome card comes with no conditions at all: no monthly fee, no income requirement, and no minimum monthly spend to keep it free. The trade-off sits in the limits — about €5,000 a month in card payments and about €500 a week in cash withdrawals — plenty for everyday life, tight for large purchases.
Step up to the Ultim card and the ceilings jump to about €20,000 a month in payments and about €2,000 a week in withdrawals. It is still free, but asks for monthly use of the card to stay free. The paid Metal card, at €9.90 a month, pushes the ceiling to about €50,000 a month with free unlimited withdrawals worldwide — worth it only if you travel constantly.
Two details matter more than the headline limits. First, BoursoBank is the only French online bank that accepts EU IBANs for the first deposit, according to Selectra in 2026 — a genuine advantage if you are arriving from another European country. Second, the bank does not accept US citizens or residents, so American expats should look at Fortuneo instead. On experience, BoursoBank scores about 4.4 out of 5 from more than 55,800 reviews (Asal Media, August 2026) — the best-rated of the two — and new customers can receive a welcome bonus of up to €160, a promotional offer, so check the current deal before you apply.
The cost to watch is outside the eurozone. On the Welcome card, withdrawals outside the eurozone carry a 1.69% fee after the first free one each month, so a traveller who withdraws cash abroad every week will feel it. Read the card terms for the tier you actually hold rather than the marketing headline.
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2. Fortuneo — the zero-fees pick for travellers
Fortuneo
Fortuneo is the online bank of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group, regulated by the AMF and the ACPR. Its free Fosfo card is the simplest free card in France: no income requirement, no minimum deposit, no monthly fee, and no conditions to keep it free.
What makes Fortuneo the default pick is what happens abroad. It charges zero foreign transaction fees on all of its card tiers — not just the premium ones — and Fosfo includes free unlimited withdrawals worldwide. For an expat who travels or pays in other currencies, that is a real saving on every trip, with no premium card needed to unlock it.
The trade-off is the ceiling. Fosfo's payment limit sits at about €2,000 a month, with withdrawals of about €500 a month — lower than BoursoBank's Welcome card on payments, and far lower than Ultim. If your monthly card spending regularly passes €2,000, you will hit the ceiling and need to plan around it or upgrade. The Gold and World Elite Mastercard tiers are free too, but only if you meet their income conditions. Fortuneo also scores lower on customer reviews, at about 3.7 out of 5 from more than 17,600 reviews (Asal Media, August 2026), which suggests the app and service feel less polished than BoursoBank's, even if the pricing is better for travellers.
Two groups should pay special attention to Fortuneo. First, US citizens and residents: Fortuneo is reported to accept them, which makes it one of the few free French online banks open to Americans. Second, newcomers chasing a welcome bonus: Fortuneo's promotional bonus runs up to €250, higher than BoursoBank's, but verify the current terms before applying. In practice Fortuneo expects the first deposit from a French IBAN, so most expats fund it from the French account they already hold.
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Fees side by side: what you actually pay in a year
Both banks are free inside France, so the yearly cost difference comes from spending outside the eurozone. Take an illustrative example: an expat who withdraws €200 in cash outside the eurozone four times a month. On BoursoBank's Welcome card, the first withdrawal each month is free and the other three carry a 1.69% fee — about €10 a month, or roughly €120 over a year (illustrative figures — verify the live price list). On Fortuneo's Fosfo card, the same withdrawals cost nothing in foreign transaction fees. That gap is the whole comparison in one number: BoursoBank wins on limits, Fortuneo wins on travel costs.
Inside France, watch for the smaller charges both banks share with the rest of the market: fees for paper statements, charges for replacement cards, and the cost of an overdraft if you arrange one. Neither bank charges a monthly account fee on its standard card, so a year of ordinary French spending genuinely costs €0 at either bank. Compare that with the roughly €191 a year the average French person pays in bank fees (Panorabanques 2026 barometer), and the saving from switching to either online bank is obvious.
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Scenario framework: which bank fits you?
- Frequent traveller. Fortuneo — zero foreign transaction fees on every card tier and free unlimited withdrawals worldwide.
- High monthly spending. BoursoBank Ultim — about €20,000 a month in payments and about €2,000 a week in withdrawals, free with monthly use.
- Arriving from another EU country. BoursoBank — the only French online bank that accepts EU IBANs for the first deposit (Selectra 2026), so you can fund it from your existing European account.
- US citizen or resident. Fortuneo — reported to accept US citizens and residents, while BoursoBank does not.
- Newcomer with no French paperwork yet. Neither yet — open N26 in week one, then move over once your French address exists.
- Want the best-rated app. BoursoBank — about 4.4/5 from 55,800+ reviews (Asal Media, Aug 2026), against about 3.7/5 for Fortuneo.
The pattern most expats end up with is simple: one of these two as the free everyday account with a French IBAN, and N26 beside it for the first weeks and for travel. There is no need to pay a branch bank a monthly package fee for everyday money — keep a branch relationship only if you need in-person service, a mortgage, or cash handling an online bank cannot do.
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Practical tips: opening your account without delays
- Documents: passport, French proof of address less than three months old (rental contract, utility bill or tax notice), and sometimes proof of income — have scans ready before you start the online application.
- First deposit: have a French IBAN ready to fund the account. BoursoBank also accepts EU IBANs for the first deposit; Fortuneo expects a French IBAN in practice.
- Check the welcome bonus terms: both bonuses are promotional (up to €160 at BoursoBank, up to €250 at Fortuneo) and usually require a minimum first deposit or card payments — read the conditions first.
- US citizens: choose Fortuneo, which is reported to accept US citizens and residents; BoursoBank does not accept them.
- Set your limits early: raise your payment and withdrawal ceilings in the app before a big purchase or a trip — changes can take a day to apply.
→ Best Bank Account for Senegalese in France — November 2026 Guide
What changes in 2027
French banks typically publish revised price lists in January, so re-check your card's limits and foreign fees at the start of 2027 rather than assuming nothing changed. Welcome bonuses are the most likely thing to move — both banks adjust them through the year. The structural picture is stable: free online accounts keep winning customers from branch banks, and SEPA instant transfers are now standard across the eurozone. None of this is a reason to wait — open the free account now, and switch between BoursoBank and Fortuneo later if your travel or spending changes.
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Ready to open a free French account? These are our top picks for this comparison — free to open, no monthly fee on the standard plans:
Open Fortuneo Account →Open BoursoBank Account →Open N26 Account →