Société Générale
Local bankDGS €100k protectedBest for: French residentsBest for: Full-service bankingBest for: Branch network
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Deposit protection: DGS €100k (FR — FGDR)
- Major French bank
- local FR IBAN
- branch network
Cons
- No fully remote opening
Rating breakdown
Foreigner onboarding0
USD handling20
Transfers75
Value & fees30
Licence & deposit protection
DGS €100k protectedDGS €100k (FR — FGDR)
This is a licensed bank, so eligible deposits are protected by the deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) up to €100,000 per customer. That's a key safety factor when choosing.
- Licence
- Bank · ACPR (Banque de France)
- IBAN
- FR
- SEPA Instant
- Send & receive
- Verification of Payee (VoP)
- Rolling out
Editorial review
Société Générale is a licensed bank (ACPR (Banque de France)), so eligible deposits carry DGS €100k (FR — FGDR).
It is a local bank licensed in FR supporting EUR. FX model: Card-network rate + bank markup.
It tends to suit french residents, full-service banking, branch network.
Fees & terms
- Exchange rate
- Card-network rate + bank markup
- Card cost
- Paid monthly account fee
- Currencies
- EUR
- Cards
- Global Physical, Global Virtual
- Transfers
- SEPA in/out, SEPA Instant in/out, SWIFT in/out
- Payments
- Apple Pay, Google Pay
- Licence
- Bank — ACPR (Banque de France)
- IBAN
- FR
- SEPA Instant
- Send & receive
- Verification of Payee (VoP)
- Rolling out
- FX model
- Card-network rate + bank markup
- Opening requirements
- Needs French address; branch may be required
- English support
- No
- Remote opening
- No
- Headquarters
- France
Also consider
FAQ
- Is my money protected?
- Yes. Société Générale holds a full bank licence (ACPR (Banque de France)), so eligible deposits are protected by DGS €100k (FR — FGDR).
- What IBAN and transfers?
- Société Générale issues a FR IBAN. SEPA Instant: send + receive.
- Can I open remotely, in English?
- Opening may need a branch visit or local docs. Support is mainly local-language. Requirements: Needs French address; branch may be required.
Data provenance & verification
Every fact is checked against an official source and stamped with a date. We re-check fees quarterly and document requirements twice a year. Fields not yet independently verified are labelled honestly.
Updated: Dataset compiled: