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How to Open a French Bank Account Even If You Don’t Speak French!

If you’re coming to live in France, or buying a holiday home here, you’re going to need to open a French bank account. If you speak a little French then the local branch of any French bank will be more than happy to help you provided you have the right paperwork. If you don’t speak French, it’s not quite so easy but there are several French banks now that have English speaking assistance via email, phone and in person.

Do you really need a bank in France though? Could you not handle all your payments by credit or debit card?

There are a lot of things you could do that way, but it’s not really practical. Any French utility company is going to want paying is Euros of course – which isn’t a problem – but France Telecom, for example, insist that you pay your phone bill by direct debit from a French bank account. The same with SAUR, the water agency. Gas and electricity suppliers would prefer it too. Then there’s things like taxe d’habitation and taxe fonci?�re – your annual local rates.

Even if it’s only a holiday home, opening a French bank account is the only sensible option.

It’s not difficult to do. You need your passport and some proof of French residency – your French electric or gas bill is perfect. If you are in the process of buying a house in France then your compromis de vente (a legal document which states your intention to buy) will usually be enough. If you are renting then a copy of your or a rental agreement will usually be fine.

All of which is fine and easy if you are just popping in to your local branch. However, in most of France it is unlikely that you will find anyone there to help you if you only speak English!

There are two solutions. First, find a branch with English speaking staff (there are banks in Brittany and Provence that advertise this). For many, however, this is clearly not practical. Secondly, set up your account via mail, a service which at least one French bank does provide – although, in the battle against drug smugglers and money laundering there is considerably more paperwork to deal with. It takes a while, and can be frustrating, but you can do it without actually being in France and once up and running, you can manage your account online, any time you like, with access from anywhere in the world.…

5 Key Steps to Build a Valuable Relationship With Your Bank

A good banking relationship is critical for any business; that relationship should grow as your business grows and can develop into a very strong bond as long as you manage it properly. A good connection with your bank will provide ongoing information with often, free consultation regarding the growth of your business. As a small business owner, free expert advice on your financial matters from someone that really wants you to succeed is invaluable. The bank wants you to flourish since your growth and success will directly influence their overall financial strength.

Establishing a strong and positive relationship with your bank starts with the following 5 key steps:

1) Set up your business bank account with an institution which deals specifically with your size of business and type of product line. You don’t want to be the only food distributor the bank works with; you want the benefit of the bank’s experience based on other businesses in your category. It will be easier to build your relationship if they are familiar with your particular industry.

2) Manage your business account carefully and avoid keeping your balances too low; over-draws and bounced checks are counted against you. This will raise a red flag internally and you will not be eligible for the best programs the bank has to offer. Bankers are very much aware of whom their stronger clients are; you want to be in that category.

3) Borrow several small short-term loans and pay them back quickly to establish positive business credit. Even if you don’t need the loan and you can pay cash, go ahead and take it out anyways. It will do 2 things for you; help you learn the process and paperwork shuffle required to get financing and second, it will establish good pay-back history which will be important as your business grows.

4) Inevitably, in the young life of a new business, payments will be missed and forecasts will be off target. When these issues arise, make that first phone call to your bank to discuss what is happening with your business flow. Keep them informed so that the bank knows you consider the relationship important and to get valued feedback. Even if you can deal with the matter yourself, sharing your challenges will strengthen that partner relationship.

5) Develop a personal relationship with your banker, that’s why their business card states, “Relationship Banker.” Take them out to lunch, they will never say no because they understand the value of networking and building trust in the community which is vital to their success. Tell them your story, summarize your plan and let them in on your dreams; where you want your business to go and what you envision for the future. Make your personal banker a cheerleader for your cause and you will have someone on the inside always voting in your favor.

Relationships are important for all parts of your business; the relationships with your vendors, suppliers, partners, employees and customers are all vital. But one of the first relationships you need to solidify is the one with your bank. Since lack of capital is one of the top 3 reasons businesses fail, you want to build a strong alliance with your source of capital. They may not be able to supply all the funding you need for every situation but they will always be a cornerstone for your daily operations and financial stability. Build your relationship early on and enjoy the benefits throughout the life of your business.…

Online Banking Security: Beware of OddJob Trojan

If you have been using online banking for the past, then you know for sure that it is a wise habit to log out of your web session every time you complete a transaction. Don’t just close the window. You need to make sure that nobody can take a look at your transactions and your password. So every time you complete a transaction, make sure you log out.

But there is a new malware out there, which makes it difficult to know if you are logged out or not. It is called the OddJob Trojan. According to Trusteer, this new Trojan has the ability to hijack the sessions of online banking customer in real time. This Trojan then uses the session ID of customers even if they think that they have logged out. This is perhaps the reason why it is now called the Oddjob Trojan.

At first, the Oddjob Trojan would infect the browser. After some time though, it will live inside the browser session. It will then intercept all the traffic related to the session of the browser. If the user has authenticated his or her identity in the online banking website, the OddJob Trojan can and will modify pages displayed. The user will see a logout screen. But in reality, the OddJob Trojan has left the real online banking session open. After this happens, the OddJob Trojan will then gather important information, which will enable hackers to get money from unsuspecting customers.

Malware that seeks to exploit the security vulnerabilities of banks are on the rise. Perhaps, this is because the hackers are increasingly becoming sophisticated and the possibility of being caught is very low. To make things worse, banks are also helpless because they wouldn’t know if a customer’s browser is infected by this OddJob Trojan or if the transaction is legitimate.

Customers who are also cautious and are taking extra precautions to protect themselves may not know they are infected. More often, though, PC users and even the antivirus and computer security manufacturers are almost always left behind by these hackers. When a new Trojan is developed, it will take days or weeks before an effective anti-virus would be developed. This makes the computer and online security industries reactive.

What can customers do then, in the face of this relentless threat?

Make sure that your security systems are up to date. Don’t click on any link sent to you via email. If you want to verify anything on your bank, go to the official bank website by typing the URL in your browser.

In online banking, prevention is still way better than cure!…

Bank Teller Training Tools – A Way to Banker’s Achievement

Bank teller training tools is a way to banker’s achievement. It is a crucial and front office job. It is the main or chief tool of any bank. The banking industry depends heavily on this training tool. It requires a lot of things to deal with. A teller helps in every aspect of baking job. These tellers help in withdrawals and deposits for customers. These people serve the customers as per help required. They have to have a heavy knowledge in accounts.

Bank tellers have all knowledge and accounts on every fund which came inside the bank and which went out of the bank. The first training tool is counterfeiting. These tellers are dealing with huge sum of money every day. They can witness many forgeries. While deposition, many people intentionally or unintentionally mix fake money bills with the deposition. While getting educated on accountancy, tellers get trained on identify forgeries. Banking jobs may look very lucrative but needs a lot of concentration. It also requires a lot of attention.

You must be focused on your banking jobs. Customers hate being delayed so you need to be fast as well. Job search on banking jobs can be made through online. You will get various jobs in accounting. For example- business analysts, IT auditors, accounts manager and many more are available. You can find suitable banking jobs at both the places like in private and public sector banks. There are various jobs available online. Another training tool should be data input.

It is very important. Rather it is a necessary to know how to input data. Feeding in a computer is a must as it helps in keeping records. So, you have to be very conscious about the machines being used. Teller’s job includes deposition, withdrawals, giving out numbers, inputting data and records, maintaining systems with speed and accuracy. A teller should also know how to stop or prevent fraud. Another training tool can be forgery. This will prevent fraud people, cheques, transactions and many other depositions.

Another tool can be workshops of robbery which is provided during banking educations. Your career depends on how swiftly you can work, how quickly you can attend all customers in the queue, how to manage all computer and manual works and how politely you can talk. These are very important in order to work in a bank. Thus, accounting jobs is very difficult. A minor mistake can ruin all your work in no time. Be polite at your work with everyone.

So, basically a bank teller’s job and tools required are to talk softly, prevent forgery, accuracy, inputting data, speed, calculations and attending everybody. Thus, these are the basic bank teller training tools which can lead a way to banker’s achievement.…

Paying Bills Online

In the past, paying bills require the client or customer to go to his respective service provider, signing through checks and receipts, and handing over the cash or check to a teller or cashier. Nowadays, it is much easier, and more convenient, too, especially for the busy career man or woman who typically has no time aside from weekends to do other stuff besides work. In the olden days, this can be quite a pity, as most service providing companies are usually open only on weekdays, during office hours. But now, thanks to the World Wide Web, not only are people able to access information from all parts of the globe, they get to pay bills without having to leave their work desks as well.

How is this done? This is achieved through what is called the bill payment software. Bill payment software is basically what allows service providing companies to get paid over the Internet. It also allows their clients to check their bills online and pay these through a number of payment options. So, how does the bill payment software work? Here is how:

1. The customer applies for a service, say, subscription. He is presented with various payment options, including the bill payment software. Now, if he wants to pay for the subscription via the Internet, he just chooses to pay through the bill payment software.

2. The customer inputs his information on the software. Typically, this consists of his pertinent personal details, the service he has applied for and his preferred payment option. Once these pieces of information are complete, the customer is informed that he has built an account with that software.

3. The customer can now check, pay, or choose to unsubscribe to his subscription with the company by logging on to the bill payment software site and his account.

Bill Payment Options

So, where would the payment come from in this system? Here, the payment method should be chosen from among the payment options that the company has presented in their software. Among the most common bill payment methods incorporated in bill payment softwares include credit or debit cards or bank accounts. Here, the customer will just have to provide his credit or debit card or bank account numbers and information to the software. And then, whenever payment is due, the company will just have to deduct the amount from the card or bank account that the customer has provided. However, customers usually have a problem with this system because of the threat of theft so rampant on the Internet. But now, thanks to technological advancements, there are now third party payment method providers that allow customers to give out their financial information not more than once. And the good news is, most companies already consider third party systems legitimate, so customers can now pay online through bill payment softwares more safely.

On The Company Side

On the side of the company, this kind of system also provides for more flexibility and convenience. Paper works are lessened, and whenever new services are introduced, the finance department no longer has to issue a whole new set of money orders, receipts and invoices. All they have to do is to program the new information on their software.…

Choosing Who to Bank Your Money With

One of the biggest decisions that any businessman would have to make in the process of building a business is who to bank your money with. Banking is when you take your cash, transfers and cheques to a banking institution with the hope that they can invest it for you, keep it safe until an appointed time when you have need to use it. It therefore involves deposits and withdrawals from time to time. When one opens an account, they provide signatures of people who have signing rights in order to perform transactions in that account. It is important to make a careful assessment of who is handling your money as many have been ripped over having been promised so much and yet very little was delivered. In some instances, some banks have been trusted over the years only to be shutdown or put under the management of the curator due to the rampant banking malpractices, fraud and misuse of banker’s funds for private matters by top executives in the banks. Some have been found wanting in terms of actual capitalization requirements which vary from country to country. In other instances, some banks have deviated from their core business; which is banking into other sectors of the economy.

Some pointers to consider

– Reliability – Delivering what they promise – Banks have a tendency to advertise a lot about the services they have on offer. In some instances, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. You actually have to open a bank account (maybe a personal one) to try them and see how reliable and flexible they are. Some banks offer good services to attract the customers. Once the customer base has grown significantly, the same banks begin to treat customers casually, breaking every promise ever made.

– Global Reach – What they offer the traveler – In how many cities of the world is the banking institution represented. Furthermore, should i travel from one country to the other and I wan to access cash wherever I go, how convenient is it to do so via a particular bank. Choosing a bank that is found in one country only can be a disadvantage sometimes for someone who travels a lot.

– Stability – When the economic meltdown happened in your area, which banks were adversely affected. Which ones were never shaken. It is important to lean on banks that have the relevant financial muscle and stability. Always check the bank’s assets and whenever their results are published in the newspapers to ensure your funds a safe with them.

– Customer Service – Banks thrive on vibrancy of customer service staff. People will always have queries to ask and this side of the bank should be strong and have people who are also patient enough with temperaments in customers.

– Value Added Services – what is it that bank A offers that other banks do not have. Always find that niche in banks that you are considering to put your money in. There must this one reason for doing so. What are those services. Some banks offer convenience through Online Banking, telephone banking and so on Some bank will offer customers soft loans with reasonable repayments…

Investment Banking Analyst: Role and Responsibilities

Investment Banking Analyst roles are in demand. As we have seen in my article on Equity Research Career, the career in Investment Banking and Equity Research is rewarding if you plan it well and have a long-term approach towards it.

If you are a fresher or have 1 year of experience in a bank, you can apply for such positions in Boutique brokerage and Investment Banking firms. You should have a graduate or post-graduate qualification (MBA,CFA,CFP,CPA) in business or management. You can apply for the posts in the area of M&A, Operations, Quant, and Business Analysis.

The job profile varies as per the areas, for instance, a New Jersey job in Investment BankingBusiness Analystposition comes with the responsibilities of identifying project scope, defining project plan and workload, following up and reporting regularly to projects sponsors, escalate issues related to this. Whereas, Investment Banking Analyst-Quant in New York will have the duties like: research, deal processing and strategic business development, researching and evaluating healthcare businesses under the supervision of senior bankers, contributing to the development of information memorandums, management presentations, pitch books and marketing materials and doing financial Projections. While an Investment Banking Analyst -M&A working in New York with a globally diversified financial services firm will have to work on: Analytical, due diligence and transactional support on workout, restructuring, acquisition and new business opportunities, developing financial models, pitch book materials and conducting company research, analyzing data to help advise our current or prospective corporate clients on actual or prospective transactions.

The skill sets required to complete the above duties are:

A� Strong quantitative / analytical skills

A� Superior attention to detail

A� Solid work ethic

A� Excellent verbal and written communication skills

A� Ability to effectively manage multiple simultaneous project deadlines

A� Proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint

A� Solid understanding of capital markets and spreadsheet modeling

A� Strong written and oral communication skills.

A� Previous experience in M&A sector is highly desired

A� Highly motivated with demonstrated ability to manage conflicting priorities and requests

A� Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to maintain relationships at all level in organization

A� Ability to take initiative and function independently balanced with strong teaming skills

A� Maintain high standards of professional and ethical conduct

The salary comparison of 3 cities, New York, Mumbai and London, for the Investment Banking Analyst post is here:

A person with Certifications like Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and 1-year experience can earn U.S. $50,000-$70,000 in New York. In Mumbai, the same person may earn in the range of INR 3,00,000-10,00,000. In London, the person with the same qualification and experience may earn in the range of GBP 20,000-50,000. These are the entry level packages for people with above mentioned qualifications, skill sets and job responsibilities in 3 different geographic locations.…

Is The Canadian Economic Situation – Stable?

We have all learnt the Bank of Canada’s views on this; that any difficulties are only short-term and then things will be getting better rapidly. This is based entirely on a probable but uncertain supposition that levels of energy charges will not rise, and that they’re more likely to decline. The current reasoning for the depression, however, is thought to have arisen from events in Japan. A perfectly credible reason, but underneath this problem the consumers are the individuals who influence our economy. The disaster in Japan will affect us, just as it affects the rest of the world, but it is without doubt not the main reason. The majority of consumers are bewildered by the results of gasoline prices and erratic job growth.

In the US previous to the depression, the Canadian debt, how much income a person has in comparison to how much debt, was only slightly lower than the Canadian ratio is now. If there were difficulties with debt, what we can certainly say, is that the banks would be better able to deal with it. It is always a concern to home owners that house prices are going to fall even more so during any recession; but at the end of the day the effect on bank profits are not going to be as bad as they were a few years ago. In the US there have been bailouts that sway the US economy, although with the banking situation as it is in Canada we are unlikely to see the same thing happening here.

The one thing that has to be clear to everyone is that the Canadian economy is closely linked to that of the US – particularly in the field of bank stocks and BC real estate. Thus, it doesn’t matter how strong and stable the situation on the domestic market presently is; US problems have the potential to hit us hard. Furthermore with the European problems affecting countries such as Greece, they could escalate and become Canada’s problems if it starts affecting the wider markets. In this situation, we could face a series of very unfortunate events: a decline in commodity prices, destroying the economy’s potential, or shifts in the equity market and the above-mentioned contagion of the housing sector in case of tightened credits.

Overall, the situation seems to be stable as it is, but much more will be seen in the future.…

Why Banking Secrecy Is Dead or Dying in Most Countries Today and Its Significance to You

It has been estimated that several millions of Americans do business offshore to take advantage of strong privacy and secrecy laws. Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Singapore, Austria, and Panama have been at the top of many lists for this purpose. But, developments in recent years have negated much of the secrecy benefits of these businesses and offshore accounts.

Some countries for example, like Switzerland, no longer wish to have new accounts from Americans. Even Panama, whose banking secrecy was written into their constitution, signed a tax information exchange agreement with the U.S on November 30, 2010. Implementation of this treaty agreement will actually require changes to their Constitution. For most Americans who already follow the legally required reporting requirements of U.S. laws, it probably has little practical significance. It is however, an indication of an alarming trend.

Why and how is banking secrecy being killed? Governments worldwide today are in dangerous financial straits. It is true that most of them have brought it upon themselves by overspending on unsustainable entitlement programs. And, for those who can not print money to pay off their obligations, their situation is even tighter.

Successful business men and wealthy individuals have taken their businesses and personal wealth to other governmental jurisdictions to avoid increasingly higher taxes. In turn their home jurisdictions have attempted to put in place laws to collect taxes on these individual’s worldwide income. The U.S. has even gone as far as to institute what amounts to an exit tax when a person chooses to give up his or her U.S. citizenship.

TIEA’s (Tax Information Exchange Agreements) are being implemented among many countries through poorly veiled economic extortion tactics. This was part of the reason for the TIEA between the United States and the Republic of Panama. Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Congress last year criticized Panama as a tax haven, and insisted on a tax information agreement as a prerequisite for possible ratification of a trade agreement between the two countries.

The Organization for Economic Development (OECD), with its 30 plus members and associated non-members constantly puts pressure on countries with secrecy laws to enter tax exchange agreements with other nations in hopes of enlarging the major economic power player’s coffers.

Can you still protect your assets abroad? The answer is yes. Offshore asset protection is not necessarily tied to continued secrecy and the advantages of locating you and your assets in offshore locations still has distinct advantages. For one thing, going offshore with your assets can get you off the radar of the U.S. asset tracking network largely used by attorneys and investigators to identify unencumbered funds which they wish to attach. This significantly reduces your chances of nuisance lawsuits.

Even if it is known where the assets are located, the chances of removing them from an offshore location is much more difficult. An entire new legal process in the offshore location has to be initiated. For those of us who are not in the millionaire category, the likelihood of such an event is unlikely. Protecting your assets through offshore tactics should only be done with proper legal counsel. It is not a do-it-yourself project in most cases.…

The Financial Review

There are now many sites owned by large corporations claiming to offer “Independent” financial help and support, after visiting many of these sites it is clear that they are all offering different products as the best savings account, or best current account, etc. How can they all be correct?? They cant, its that simple, what I have discovered after trawling through these sites in search of clearly worded, independent useful advice on how to get more from my finances is that there are few that can actually offer it, there are a couple however…

There are new sites giving exactly whats needed, clear unbiased advice on the best banking accounts out there, whether it be savings, credit cards, current accounts, etc. These sites do exactly what they ‘say on the tin’, no jargon is used and it is straight to the point, well worth looking at if you want a genuine sites giving useful financial information.

Check some out and I’m sure you wont be disappointed!

There are more and more sites like this popping up now, is that a result of the global financial crisis? Are people looking more towards truly independent advice after finding that the banks and large financial organisations that we trusted weren’t being honest with us, they played with our money and now perhaps we are all looking into our finances that little deeper. Our loyalty to the bank we’ve been with so long is slowly eroding, we need to get more from our money, we need the best accounts, with the best rates and the truth is that we have the freedom to choose! So yes we are looking at these smaller independent sites because we will at least see what is available in the knowledge that we will not be shepherded down a particular route that we dont want to go down, become financial independent, its your money and its your choice where you put it! Its time we found out what we can really get with our money, get on the web and FIND the BEST DEAL!…