which bank?
The time has come for me to decide which bank gets my money.
After surviving on a thousand four hundred euro for a month and a half - which is very little considering a big part of that goes to paying for my lodging here at la maison des mines, which MOE would reimburse at a later date - the 4 thousand euros I had budgeted for a year stay in france, travelling expenses included, will be arriving in its full sum tomorrow.
3 young man and women had mounted the Himalayans, crossed the Indian Ocean and braved the war-torn zones in the Middle East to bring me the money. It's obvious that I'm exaggerating but it's true that their flights from Singapore to France had flown them over these exotic regions, and I certainly would not want to understate their efforts.
In order to save the bank transfer fees and to avoid losing out on the exchange rates, I had requested Yuying, Kok Meng and Yeejia to bring me the money. The money was changed in Singapore which offered better rates than here in France and numerous calls were made between my brothers and the 3 of them so that they could receive the money. For all the effort they had made, it is my pleasure to announce here at Le Chye that they have managed to save me a proud sum of 150 sing dollars, plus ou moins. I'm beginning to wonder if it was worth all that trouble when a bank transfer from singapore to france would have done the job.
In any case, back to the more pressing question of where to safekeep my money now. In France, there are 2 major banks, BNP Paribas (read Pa-he-bar) and Société Genérale, very much like DBS and UOB in Singapore.
Société Genérale offers 2 accounts for free. The first account is a savings account, with an annual interest rate of 4%, which qie4 that of POSB flat. The second account is a current account, with no interest rate, but from which I would be able to draw my money from ATMs. Account holders are given an internet banking account, which facilitates the transfer of money between these 2 accounts. So in fact, it is easy to manipulate our savings to make full gain from the 4% interest rate, without worrying that there would be no money in the current account when we need it.
On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea how the accounts provided byBNP work. In fact, there are only 2 things that I know about BNP. First of all, it is the main sponsor of a tennis tournament, held every November in Paris, creatively-named the BNP Paribas Masters. In addition, according to the PRCs I had aquainted, BNP is better (in what sense, they never say) and more recognised internationally than Société Genérale.
Before today, I was set to open an account with BNP - the BNP Paribas Masters being the main reason I was inclined towards it. However, my decision to put my money with BNP has now been wavered.
Both Société Genérale and BNP were at my school's orientation today to attract students to open accounts with them. And like all sorts of promotions these days, they dished out free gifts.
Beside is the bag I received from Société Genérale. Not the most impressive of bags but at least it looks professional enough. And it is actually quite convenient for holding documents.
Both banks gave out sweets too. Société Genérale gave me 11. BNP, only 4.
And for now, the number of sweets I received is having a very big say in which bank I'll be choosing. Unless BNP fedexed 8 more of their sweets to me before Wednesday, Société Genérale, I'm yours.
After surviving on a thousand four hundred euro for a month and a half - which is very little considering a big part of that goes to paying for my lodging here at la maison des mines, which MOE would reimburse at a later date - the 4 thousand euros I had budgeted for a year stay in france, travelling expenses included, will be arriving in its full sum tomorrow.
3 young man and women had mounted the Himalayans, crossed the Indian Ocean and braved the war-torn zones in the Middle East to bring me the money. It's obvious that I'm exaggerating but it's true that their flights from Singapore to France had flown them over these exotic regions, and I certainly would not want to understate their efforts.
In order to save the bank transfer fees and to avoid losing out on the exchange rates, I had requested Yuying, Kok Meng and Yeejia to bring me the money. The money was changed in Singapore which offered better rates than here in France and numerous calls were made between my brothers and the 3 of them so that they could receive the money. For all the effort they had made, it is my pleasure to announce here at Le Chye that they have managed to save me a proud sum of 150 sing dollars, plus ou moins. I'm beginning to wonder if it was worth all that trouble when a bank transfer from singapore to france would have done the job.
In any case, back to the more pressing question of where to safekeep my money now. In France, there are 2 major banks, BNP Paribas (read Pa-he-bar) and Société Genérale, very much like DBS and UOB in Singapore.
Société Genérale offers 2 accounts for free. The first account is a savings account, with an annual interest rate of 4%, which qie4 that of POSB flat. The second account is a current account, with no interest rate, but from which I would be able to draw my money from ATMs. Account holders are given an internet banking account, which facilitates the transfer of money between these 2 accounts. So in fact, it is easy to manipulate our savings to make full gain from the 4% interest rate, without worrying that there would be no money in the current account when we need it.
On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea how the accounts provided byBNP work. In fact, there are only 2 things that I know about BNP. First of all, it is the main sponsor of a tennis tournament, held every November in Paris, creatively-named the BNP Paribas Masters. In addition, according to the PRCs I had aquainted, BNP is better (in what sense, they never say) and more recognised internationally than Société Genérale.
Before today, I was set to open an account with BNP - the BNP Paribas Masters being the main reason I was inclined towards it. However, my decision to put my money with BNP has now been wavered.
Both Société Genérale and BNP were at my school's orientation today to attract students to open accounts with them. And like all sorts of promotions these days, they dished out free gifts.
Beside is the bag I received from Société Genérale. Not the most impressive of bags but at least it looks professional enough. And it is actually quite convenient for holding documents.
Now take a look at the bag from BNP. Even the ugly goodie bags given out at each National Day looks better. Nuff said.
Both banks gave out sweets too. Société Genérale gave me 11. BNP, only 4.
And for now, the number of sweets I received is having a very big say in which bank I'll be choosing. Unless BNP fedexed 8 more of their sweets to me before Wednesday, Société Genérale, I'm yours.
posted by le chye at
7:36 AM
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