French Monetary and Financial Code
In forceI. - Credit institutions are required to make available to their customers and to the public, on paper or on another durable medium, the general terms and conditions and charges applicable to transactions relating to the management of a deposit account, in accordance with the procedures laid down by an order of the Minister responsible for the economy.
II. - The management of a deposit account for natural persons not acting for professional purposes is governed by a written agreement, on paper or on another durable medium, between the customer and his credit institution.
The main stipulations that the deposit account agreement must include, in particular the general terms and conditions and charges for opening, operating and closing the account, are specified by an order of the Minister for the Economy.
Before the customer is bound by this agreement, the credit institution shall provide the customer with these terms and conditions on paper or on another durable medium. The credit institution may fulfil this obligation by providing the customer with a copy of the draft deposit account agreement.
If, at the customer's request, this agreement is concluded by a means of distance communication that does not enable the credit institution to comply with the previous paragraph, the credit institution shall fulfil its obligations immediately after concluding the deposit account agreement.
Acceptance of the deposit account agreement is formalised by the signature of the account holder(s).
III. - Where the credit institution offers its customer new payment services not mentioned in the deposit account agreement, the information relating to these new services is the subject of a framework payment services contract governed by the provisions of sections 2 to 4 of Chapter IV of this Title relating to framework payment services contracts or of an amendment to the deposit account agreement under the conditions set out in II of this article.
When a statement of account is provided in application of the stipulations of the agreement referred to in the previous paragraph and it indicates, for information purposes, that an amount of overdraft is authorised, it immediately mentions, in the same characters, the annual percentage rate of charge within the meaning of articles L. 314-1 to L. 314-4 of the French Consumer Code, regardless of the duration of the authorised overdraft in question.
IV. - Any proposed amendment to the deposit account agreement is provided to the customer on paper or on another durable medium no later than two months before the planned date of application. In accordance with the procedures laid down in the deposit account agreement, the credit institution shall inform the customer that he is deemed to have accepted the amendment if it has not notified him, before the proposed date of entry into force of the amendment, that it does not accept it; in this case, the credit institution shall also specify that, if the customer refuses the proposed amendment, he may terminate the deposit account agreement free of charge, before the proposed date of entry into force of the amendment.
V. - The customer may terminate the deposit account agreement at any time, unless a contractual notice period of no more than thirty days is stipulated.
After six months, the deposit account agreement may be terminated free of charge. In other cases, the termination fee must be proportionate to the costs incurred by the termination.
The credit institution may terminate a deposit account agreement concluded for an indefinite period by giving at least two months' notice, provided on paper or on another durable medium. Fees regularly charged for the provision of payment services are only payable by the customer pro rata for the period due on the date of termination of the deposit account agreement. If the fees have been paid in advance, they will be refunded on a pro rata basis.
With the customer's agreement, the account agreement may be adapted before expiry of the two-month period referred to in II if the customer is subject to the overindebtedness procedure, in order to facilitate implementation of the treatment measures provided for in Title III of Book VII of the Consumer Code. The Association française des établissements de crédit et des entreprises d'investissement (French Association of Credit Institutions and Investment Firms), referred to in Article L. 511-29 of this Code, adopts professional standards that specify the terms and conditions and duration of maintenance of the deposit account and the adaptations, in particular to means of payment, to facilitate its operation and avoid incidents.
These standards, approved by the Minister for the Economy after consultation with the Consultative Committee for the Financial Sector and the Consultative Committee for Financial Legislation and Regulation, are applicable to all credit institutions. Compliance with these standards is monitored by the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution and is subject to the procedure set out in Article L. 612-31.
VI. - For each payment transaction referred to in Article L. 314-2 covered by a deposit account agreement and ordered by the payer, the payment service provider shall provide the payer, at his request, with information on paper or on another durable medium concerning the maximum execution time for this specific transaction, the charges that he must pay and, where applicable, details of these charges.
