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I bank at a regional bank which doesn't cover the whole territory. The nearest branch is 1600 km away. My car is damaged and I can't use public transport because of the strikes.

Recently I unlocked $18,000 worth of foreign funds which had been locked up for a year because of regulatory problems. I loaded them on a foreign prepaid card and withdrew the entire amount in cash in a single day. I then realized that I can't deposit this money, not even a single euro bank note into my French bank.

I don t feel secure with such high amount with me. How can I deposit them in my bank account since I have no access to transportation?

Update:

French banks don t want to hear about peoples who earned a large amount of a usd recently from us company because of fear from the iris even if the income was taxable in France (this is about an other transfer which appears on my bank statement).
The current account I have was opened when I was still a child (and by the way with a contract which basically enititled me everything for free which is no longer open to new applicants since 2008).
They keep me because the account is already open but I am no longer welcome at any French bank otherwise.

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    So you have $18k in cash that you want to deposit? Can't you simply open an account at a local bank?
    – chepner
    Dec 12, 2019 at 19:47
  • @chepner I have had the same problem, but for much smaller amounts, and it's a waste of my time to visit a bank and open an account just to deposit a few hundred dollars in cash! Not to mention, what am I going to do with the account afterwards? Close it? Rack up $10/month or more in fees because I don't keep any minimum balance?
    – user12515
    Dec 12, 2019 at 20:54
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    There is a world of difference between carrying around a couple of hundred dollars and $18,000 in cash. It think it's pretty clear that opening a new account in the latter case would not be a waste of time if the OP is uncomfortable holding on to that much cash, and closing an account after transferring the funds to the existing bank is not that onerous a task.
    – chepner
    Dec 12, 2019 at 21:06
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    The car issue seems irrelevant; I wouldn't really want to drive 1600km just to make a deposit, and I certainly wouldn't want to carry $18k on public transportation.
    – chepner
    Dec 12, 2019 at 21:08
  • Do you plan to live in your current location for at least a few months?
    – Freiheit
    Dec 12, 2019 at 21:48

1 Answer 1

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I don't exactly know the situation in France, but in Germany, I'd do one of the following things:

  1. Open an account with a bank which has a local branch.
  2. Directly pay and transfer money at a local bank. This will cost quite a fee.

Both things should be feasible in France as well.

Be aware that there are EU directives which might complicate paying such a high amount of money.

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  • There is another benefit to this solution. If OP opens an account locally, OP will then have a local bank that is 1.6km away and not 1600km away. OP will have a local bank to do all the other things that a local bank can help with.
    – Freiheit
    Dec 12, 2019 at 21:49
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    @Freiheit The downside is that the "local" account might cost a monthly fee, while the "remote" account might be for free. At least, that's why I currently don't have a local account.
    – glglgl
    Dec 13, 2019 at 9:31
  • @glglgl The upside is they're not walking around with $18,000! If, as a comment on the question suggests, charges are dependent on not keeping a minimum, I'd be surprised if $18k was below that minimum.
    – TripeHound
    Dec 13, 2019 at 10:38
  • @glglgl I tried last year for an other reason but I am no longer welcome at French banks. See the edit. So I can t open any bank account there. French bank enrolling requires your previous banks statement where the usd income does appear.
    – user2284570
    Dec 13, 2019 at 12:42
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    @Freiheit One month would be plenty of time to open, deposit to, transfer from, and close the account, and the service fee would be negligible given the amount of money being transferred in this fashion. The OP's comment changes things, though.
    – chepner
    Dec 13, 2019 at 12:45

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