B&YOU: carte prépayée

[NFH]

I'm considering a French-issued prepaid Visa or MasterCard instead, for example La Banque Postale's "Carte Cadeau", which has a purchase fee of €10 compared to my French bank's debit card annual fee of €40. The French seem remarkably accepting of paying fees for any type of plastic bank card, which would completely deter customers in most other countries.

[janyyc]

Ça serait super!! Merci!

[artwong]

Originally Posted by NFH

I'm considering a French-issued prepaid Visa or MasterCard instead, for example La Banque Postale's "Carte Cadeau", which has a purchase fee of €10 compared to my French bank's debit card annual fee of €40. The French seem remarkably accepting of paying fees for any type of plastic bank card, which would completely deter customers in most other countries.

I just exchanged a few messages on Twitter with a B&YOU rep who claims a Banque Postale Carte Cadeau will not work for ordering a SIM. He says: Only a Bank Card from a French Bank.

[kuba.g]

As for the solution with the Carte Cadeau - from what I read we will first need somebody to go to France. It costs €12 to make this card in a Post office (€10 is if you fill in the form and order it to your French address).

[NFH]

Originally Posted by kuba.g

As for the solution with the Carte Cadeau - from what I read we will first need somebody to go to France. It costs €12 to make this card in a Post office (€10 is if you fill in the form and order it to your French address).

But if we have a French address where we receive the SIM cards, we can also use it to receive the Carte Cadeau beforehand.

[janyyc]

I think I've been covered by a friend in France. Sorry I can't extend her kindness onwards, but she's from the US and her boyfriend is French. So it's complicated already.

But I'll still try being in touch with the eBay-er to see if I can help get something for all of you.

[janyyc]

Still no reply... So I think it's a lost case with the eBay-er...

I am wondering, though, when we already get the SIMs, how do we top them up from abroad to keep their validity? As I understand it, initially the SIM is only valid for 2 months.

[NFH]

Originally Posted by janyyc

I am wondering, though, when we already get the SIMs, how do we top them up from abroad to keep their validity? As I understand it, initially the SIM is only valid for 2 months.

You don't need to top up to maintain validity. You only need a chargeable communication once per year, even an incoming roaming call of one second.

The initial €1.50 credit is valid for one month. Subsequent top-ups are valid indefinitely provided that you top up once per year.

post deleted

[NFH]

Originally Posted by cris

After investigating all about the B&you prepaid card, and after reading all the incovenients to order one without having a french address and french credit card, I went with LeFrenchMobile.

LeFrenchMobile is a total rip-off, targeted at foreigners. First, you have to pay €1.40 per month, even if you don't use it, which makes it unsuitable for occasional visitors to France. Second, data is charged between €0.13 and €0.30 per megabyte (depending on which bundle you buy), compared to B&You's flat rate of €0.05/MB. I really don't understand why you posted information about such an expensive operator, unless your post is disguised spam (which you have also posted in another forum). We already know about all the rip-off options in France. This thread is specifically about the only non-rip-off option.