Review (+ referral) of BforBank – Ideal for unlisted securities in PEA / PME

Want to open a BforBank account? Use my referral code: VPZR

Relatively little-known, BforBank is a highly reputable bank, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole. It offers a range of services and payment methods that are 100% free, subject to a few conditions.

To my knowledge, it’s the most interesting bank for a niche operation: registering unlisted securities in your PEA / PME account. Crowdfunding investors will appreciate this.

Services offered

BforBank offers all the standard banking services:

• Payment methods
• Livret A savings account
• PEA & PEA / PME
• Life insurance
• …

Bank cards

BforBank offers two bank cards:

• A Visa Premier
• A Visa Infinite

The Visa Premier card is 100% free provided you make at least 3 payments per quarter (which is very easy). Otherwise, it costs €9 per quarter.

You need at least €1,200 in monthly income to qualify.

You can choose between immediate or deferred debit.

The Visa Infinite card is a high-end card. It costs €200 per year and is only available if you earn at least €4,000 per month. It offers a wide range of insurance benefits and even access to a 24/7 private concierge service.

A downside for travelers: both cards charge a 1.95% foreign transaction fee outside the eurozone. It’s a shame, as free foreign transactions are becoming standard.

Investing

Brokerage fees are quite competitive.

Unlisted securities in PEA / PME

Ultimately, it’s only for this aspect that I opened an account with BforBank: registering unlisted securities in PEA / PME.

If you invest in real estate crowdfunding, you know that capital gains are subject to the 30% flat tax.

Unless… you register your securities in a PEA / PME account (which is separate from your regular PEA account). Some crowdfunding platforms offer this. In that case, you only pay the 17.2% social contributions.

The problem is that this is such a specific operation that most banks don’t really want to handle it.

So either it’s very complicated to do, or it’s very expensive.

I first tried with my account Boursorama I was refused over and over, without any explanation, and it was impossible to get a human on the phone or by email, as the process was automated.

Then I considered doing it with my account Fortuneo they charge €300 PER transaction! Needless to say, for an investment of €1,000, it’s not worth it.

That’s when I discovered BforBank, which offers unbeatable rates: 0.10%, with a maximum of €500. For a €1,000 investment, it will cost you €1! More than offset by the tax savings.

After a bit of fumbling with my first operation (I didn’t get a response to my request), the process is actually quite simple:

• Make sure you have enough cash in your PEA / PME account
• Send the documents (provided by the crowdfunding platform) by email
• Then: call support (I learned that they won’t process your request otherwise ^^) to ask if they’ve received your file.

You don’t have to do anything else. Within a few days, BforBank will process the payment. About two weeks later, the securities will appear in your PEA / PME client area.

It’s a bit archaic, but it works well, it’s easy to get a competent person on the phone, and it’s not expensive at all!

Want to open a BforBank account? Use my referral code: VPZR . You will receive €30 free when you open the account.