Video summary

J’ai comparé 10 banques… voici la meilleure pour votre compte perso !

Main summary

Key takeaways

Finance

Finance-focused summary (online bank comparison + investing features)

Key tickers / instruments / account types mentioned

  • PEA / PEA Jeune (equity tax wrappers)
  • Securities account
  • Life insurance (assurance-vie)
  • LDDS (French savings)
  • SCPI (real-estate investment funds)
  • Real-estate crowdfunding (SCPI / “DSCPI” mentioned)
  • Bonds
  • Private equity
  • Crypto
  • Cash/check deposits, overdraft, international transfers
  • Cards: Visa Premier / Visa Infinite / “ultimate” (card insurance referenced)

Presenter / source info (end of document)

  • Mathieu Louvé, wealth management advisor; founder of Sainvestir (also mentions “my team”)

Framework / methodology used (as described)

  • Compared 9 online banks + 1 traditional bank (explicitly Société Générale).
  • Evaluated banks using:
    • 7 major categories
    • 40+ analysis criteria
  • Cross-checked:
    • Deposit guarantee / legal structure
    • Fees & card conditions
    • International payments / FX costs
    • Savings & investment product range
    • Interest on current account (remuneration)
    • Cash/check deposit capability
    • Card insurance
    • Customer service responsiveness / reviews (including direct calls + Trustpilot scores)

Category highlights & key financial points

1) Reliability & deposit security (deposit guarantee)

  • Coverage cap: €100,000 per customer per institution.
  • French banks: protected by FGDR (deposit guarantee / resolution fund).
  • German banks (N26, Trade Republic): similar protection via the German system (described as equivalent).
  • Revolut: described as a “special case”
    • Historically Lithuanian license (still relevant during transition)
    • Mentioned French banking license in August 2026
    • If failure occurs before full transition, reimbursement would be via the Lithuanian guarantee framework (procedural differences expected).
  • Elios: explicitly not a bank
    • Classified as an electronic money institution
    • No live deposit guarantee; funds held in escrow at a partner bank (Cali, subsidiary of Crédit Agricole).

Top score in this category: “six French banks backed by large groups” = 5/5 Worst: 4/5 (notably attributed to being the “youngest” player, launched in 2020)

2) Cards, pricing traps & commitments

Main “pitfalls” / cautions:

  • Conditioned “free card”: free only if you meet usage/activity rules.
    • Example: Boursobank ultimate free but €9 if not used within 30 rolling days
    • Fortuneo: €3 (Fosfo) / €9 (Gold) under conditions
    • Elobank: €6 (Hello One) under conditions
    • Bforbank: €2 for the basic Bfor account
  • 12-month commitment on paid plans
    • Revolut: “paid plans commit for 12 months” (€3.99/month ≈ €48/year for the first paid plan)
    • N26: €4.90/month ≈ €59/year
  • Inactive account fees: €30/year if the account is unchanged for 12 months (several players)

Cheapest result: Boursobank = 5/5 (described as cheapest in France for 18 consecutive years) Traditional bank (Société Générale) worst in cards/fees: 2.25/5

  • Sobr i offer: advertised €1/month, but promo then regular prices apply:
    • €7.75 (Visa Evolution)
    • €15.90 (Visa Premier)
    • €30 (Visa Infinite)
  • Example calculation claim: Société Générale Visa Premier ≈ €360/year
  • Virtual card fee: €14/year at Société Générale (vs unlimited at Boursobank)

3) Payments, transfers, limits, FX & overdraft

Key FX / travel cost numbers:

  • Fortuneo: described as best in this category (3.75/5)
    • Free euro payments/withdrawals and no FX fee on foreign currency transactions across cards (including free card)
  • Revolut travel FX nuance (caution with thresholds):
    • Free-plan free exchange up to €1,000/month
    • Above that: 1% fee per transaction
    • Weekend surcharge up to 1% on the free plan
    • Example logic stated:
      • Under cap on Tuesday: no extra fees
      • Same spend on Saturday: +1% surcharge
      • Above monthly cap: fees add (1% + 1% ≈ 2%)

Société Générale foreign currency example:

  • Foreign currency payment cost: €1 + 2.7% of amount
  • Example: €1,000 abroad → €30+ fees at Société Générale vs €0 at Fortuneo
  • “Traveler option” to offset fees: €22.40/year

Cash withdrawal limits:

  • N26: 2 to 8 free withdrawals/month depending on plan; then €2 per withdrawal
  • Revolut (free plan): 5 withdrawals or €200/month; then 2% fee per withdrawal
  • Trade Republic: free withdrawals from €100; below that €1 per withdrawal
    • Example stated: €20 withdrawal could cost €1 (≈ 5%)
  • Société Générale: €1.20 per withdrawal (unless ATM/package), with an unlimited-withdrawal package mentioned as €1.92/month

Overdraft:

  • Boursobank: overdraft up to €10,000 on metal card
  • No overdraft at: Bforbank, Revolut, N26, Trade Republic, Elios

Elios note:

  • Described as having no out-of-zone transfers / no withdrawal limits, but also no cash withdrawals via entry offer, and “dead last” overall category scoring.

4) Savings & investments (portfolio-building capability)

What the bank can “host” (guidance):

  • Livret / LDDS, PEA, securities account, life insurance
  • Mortgage
  • SCPI / real estate crowdfunding

Framing:

  • Full-service banks: broad product menu
  • Neobanks / limited-service: fewer savings/investment options

Notable scores:

  • Full-service banks described around 4 to 4.5 / 5
  • Elios: 0/5 (almost nothing besides life insurance, business account, joint account)
    • Warning: life insurance contracts vary; “having life insurance at a bank” doesn’t guarantee the specific policy is good.
  • Revolut: 0.5/5
    • Missing PEA and delivery features at the time of recording
    • Forward-looking: plans to add savings/PEA/mortgage after Aug 2026 French banking license; comparator noted as “frozen” and will be updated.

Trade Republic / investment orientation:

  • Called an investment platform:
    • PEA, PEA Jeune, compt(e) money, bonds, private equity, crypto
    • Cashback referenced separately in the neo-bank section

5) Interest on current account (cash yield on idle cash)

Called out as “almost no one compares,” affecting net outcomes vs inflation.

  • Trade Republic: 3% p.a. on cash for new customers; then rate indexed to ECB
    • At filming time: 2.25%
  • N26: up to 1.5% depending on plan
  • Revolut: current account not directly remunerated; savings feature with round trips
    • “Average around 2% per year” (described as around ECB rate)
  • Boursobank: “Boursobank plus savings” with round trips
    • At filming time: 1.5%
  • Boursobank loses its half-point in “current account remuneration” due to low/no current remuneration.

Caution: promotional rates may be capped/limited to paid plan tiers.

6) Cash/check deposits feasibility (operational constraint)

Many consumers need to:

  • cash checks
  • deposit cash

Explicit exclusions (examples):

  • No checks or cash at Bforbank, Revolut, N26, Trade Republic, Elios

Boursobank special case:

  • Digital check deposit capped at €250 over 30 days
  • No cash deposits
  • Checkbook availability after 6 months of membership

Score leaders:

  • Elo Ban at 5/5
  • Société Générale also strong

This single criterion can “eliminate half the banks” for users who need cash/checks.

7) Card insurance

Insurance treated as a “hidden value” of certain cards.

  • Boursobank & Fortunéo: 5/5
  • Société Générale: 4.5/5
  • N26 & Revolut: travel insurance exists only on paid plans, not free plans
  • République: 0.5/5 (described as lacking insurance)

Customer experience (service quality)

  • Winner: Monaban (Monabanq)
    • “Customer service of the year 2026” for 9th consecutive year
    • Trustpilot: 4.5/5 from 11,000+ reviews
  • Revolut: 4.7/5 based on ~450,000 Trustpilot reviews
  • Société Générale: lowest customer review score in comparison: 1.7/5
    • Critique: advisors seen as sales-driven; frequent advisor changes at traditional banks

Final ranking (top-to-bottom) with explicit scores & major takeaway cautions

  1. Boursobank — 4.43/5 (ranked #1)

    • Strengths: 5/5 reliability, 5/5 cards/fees, 5/5 insurance, rare investments
    • Includes: SCPI, crowdfunding, PEA PME, etc.
    • Overdraft up to €10,000
    • Weakness/cost trap: “ultimate card” costs €9 if not used at least once per month
    • Checkbook only after 6 months
    • Check deposits capped at €250/month, no cash deposits

  2. Fortunéo — 4.39/5

    • Travel cost advantage: free payments/withdrawals in euros and foreign currency on all cards
    • Strong insurance (5/5) and investment ecosystem (PEA, PEA PME, securities, mortgage, SCPI mention)
    • Limits:
      • Cards remain free only with at least one use per month
      • Overdraft max starts at €200
      • No cash deposits

  3. BNP Paribas hybrid (named as “Monacan” / unclear exact brand) — 4.29/5

    • Described as online + physical network behind it
    • Supports cheque deposit/branch services and broad savings
    • Card free if used at least once a month; otherwise €6

  4. Monabanq — 3.96/5

    • No free offer, but “every euro finances something”
    • Strong customer service; cash/check deposits via CIC Crédit Mutuel ATMs

  5. Société Générale (traditional) — 3.78/5

    • Strong reliability and some category scores
    • But expensive on cards/fees and worst abroad FX costs
    • Customer reviews weakest at 1.7/5

  6. Bforbank (Crédit Agricole online bank) — 3.43/5

    • Limits: only 3 free withdrawals/month, expensive international transfers, no overdraft, no PEA, no securities

  7. Revolut — 3.18/5

    • Travel FX generally good but with constraints: weekend surcharge and caps; withdrawal caps
    • No checks/cash; “French savings empty,” no Livret A/PEA at time of recording
    • French banking license (Aug 2026) may change later

  8. N26 and Trade Republic — tied at 3.11/5

    • Trade Republic described as investment platform with PEA/ETFs suitability and cashback ecosystem, but not a full everyday bank
    • N26 more complete than some but still limited: commitment on plans, no overdraft, no delivery, no LDDS (at time), etc.

  9. (Revolut / “Republic” neobank) — 3.11/5 (tied; exact mapping in subtitle unclear)

  10. Elios — 2.36/5

    • Eco/green framing, but operational limitations:
      • no free offers
      • no overdraft
      • no checkbooks
      • no transfers
      • practically no savings products
    • Emphasized as not a bank; trust depends on escrow structure via Cali (Crédit Agricole subsidiary)

Important disclaimer-like cautions within the content

  • Fees and offers change quickly; comparator is “continuously updated.”
  • Revolut French license transition noted as a timeline risk.
  • Life insurance choice caution: even if life insurance is offered via a bank, the selected policy may be poor.
  • “This video is not my recommendation today” specifically about Société Générale (as presented by host).

Disclosures / disclaimers about advice

  • No explicit “not financial advice” phrase appears in subtitles, but the host frames it as a comparison tool and stresses choosing based on needs.

Presenters / sources (as mentioned)

  • Mathieu Louvé (wealth management advisor; founder of Sainvestir)
  • “My team” (unnamed)
  • Trustpilot (used for customer review ratings)
  • Greenle audits (used for “greenest account” claim about Elios)
  • Named interviewee: Benoît Grisoni, CEO (about Boursobank check deposit limit; brand name in subtitles: “Bourse au Banque” / “Boursobank”)

Original video