Before you start

Passport and residence permit or validated visa
Justificatif de domicile in your name
Proof of income or employment, commonly requested
A French mobile number

Step-by-step

1
Open a digital account in your first week
Revolut, N26, Wise and the French online banks open accounts in days and give you a usable IBAN, which covers the deposit and first rent while a traditional account is arranged. Several are accepted for salary without difficulty.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
2
Download your RIB and keep it where you can send it in thirty seconds
You will be asked for it by your employer, your landlord, the electricity company, the tax office, the health insurance fund and the CAF — separately, and often twice each. Save it as a PDF on your phone.
Mobile appWho: You
3
Open a traditional account for the things that still want one
Some landlords, some employers and certain administrative procedures prefer a French high-street bank. Book an appointment and bring the passport, residence permit, proof of address and employment contract. It takes a week or two.
In personWho: You
4
Invoke the droit au compte if you are refused
Get the refusal in writing and take it to the Banque de France, which will designate a bank obliged to open a basic account with standard services free of charge. It is a statutory right rather than a theoretical one, and it turns a dead end into a two-week procedure.
In personWho: You
5
Apply to the CAF for APL once you have a lease
The housing allowance is means-tested and open to many foreign residents holding a valid permit, including students and low-to-middle earners, and it is paid monthly against your rent. A great many eligible newcomers never apply because they assume it is for French nationals only. It is not.
OnlineWho: YouAfter signing the lease
6
Arrange assurance habitation before the key handover
Home insurance is legally required for tenants and the agent will ask for the attestation on the day you collect the keys. Most banks and insurers issue one online within an hour — but do it the week before, not the morning of.
OnlineWho: YouBefore key handover

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence permit or validated visa
Justificatif de domicile
Employment contract or proof of resources
French mobile number
Lease and RIB, for the CAF application

Things most newcomers don’t know

The droit au compte exists, and almost no newcomer knows about it.

If banks refuse you — which happens to people with unusual documentation, no French credit history or a foreign address still on file — obtain the refusal in writing and apply to the Banque de France. It designates a bank required to open a basic account with standard services free of charge. It is a statutory right, routinely used, and it converts an apparently closed door into a two-week administrative procedure.

Source: Banque de France

APL is not restricted to French nationals, and thousands of eligible newcomers never claim it.

The CAF housing allowance is means-tested on income and rent, and is open to foreign residents holding a valid residence permit — including students and people early in a French career, which describes a large share of arrivals in a city with one of France's biggest student populations. The assumption that it is a nationality-based benefit is the single most common reason people leave money unclaimed in their first year.

Source: caf.fr

The RIB is the most-requested document in French life, and the requests never stop.

Salary, rent, utilities, insurance, tax refunds, health reimbursements and benefits all move by transfer against your RIB, and each organisation asks for it separately. Having it saved as a PDF you can send from your phone removes a small recurring friction that otherwise costs you several afternoons in your first six months.

Source: community-reported

French direct debits are much easier to start than to stop.

Rent, utilities, insurance and phone all run on prélèvement. Authorising one takes a signature; stopping one usually requires cancelling the underlying contract properly, and simply blocking the debit at the bank leaves the contract alive and the debt accruing. Keep your own list of what you have authorised, because no single place shows it to you.

Source: community-reported