I'm from France and I'm using an online bank. Almost none of these apply to me - yes the pin code and the card come by mail but I can transfer arbitrary amounts online, I have a free gold card, there are basically no fees at all: the account is free, the card is free, transfers are free, I don't think this account cost me anything at all. I had to open the account with a significant amount to get the gold card but you can open it with a much lower amount or by receiving your salary there, and the only difference is that you get a regular card instead.
The only downside is that you don't have a physical branch you can go into but you can do basically anything online without ever interacting with anyone, or at worst you can always call them. Those are real banks btw, not pseudo-bank fintech companies.
YMMV I guess.
I'm in France too and none of those points apply to my experience (except the monthly fee for the debit card and the snail mail for the new PIN).
I have not set foot in my physical branch in 10 years, and have not written a paper check since 2011.
Re:Why is everyone a bank?
by imtringued on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @09:09AM
(#21572912)
I think what you are looking for is a direct bank. It's weird to complain about having to go to a branch when you sign up for a bank account at a bank whose primary selling point is the availability of a local branch.
That you have to go into your specific physical branch to do certain things is ridiculous. I can go into any Chase in the US and do anything I could do at my normal “home” branch.
N26 (a German bank) was vastly superior but even that had limitations, especially with moving money around internationally.
The grass is always greener on the other side.