How does a Brit obtain a French Carte Bleue debit card for short visits to France?

A British friend used his UK credit card in a French call-box and was charged £20 for three mins to UK. A French friend says Carte Bleue costs nothing like that much, and C.B. is a debit card easy to get by paying up front. Is that correct?|||The pure Carte Bleue is a weird animal to most non-French nationals, unlike Visa or Mastercard it allows transactions without requiring authorization from the cardholder's bank. In many situations, the card works like a credit card but without fees for the cardholder. Saying that the system was integrated into the wider CB or Carte bancaire ("banking card"), thus all Carte Bleue cards are part of CB, but not all CB cards are Carte Bleue.





The system is national, and pure Carte Bleue cards do not operate outside of France. However, it is possible and commonplace to get Carte Bleue VISA or Mastercard card that operates outside of France. Carte Bleue, properly said, was the local affiliate of VISA (All Visa card in France are also Carte Bleue). Today, all cards also double with the electronic cash system mon€o.





As from 9th February this year - Visa Europe and SAS Carte Bleue have merged their operations here and created Visa France. From said date the Carte Bleue card has become an integral part of our bank account, with only those with a bank account here having access to the same.





The solution to your problem is the “Carte Cadeau”, a pre-paid “Carte Bleue” that works exactly the same as a normal but once emptied is worthless and a new one has to be purchased. To purchase the same, you walk into any bank ask for a “Carte Cadeau”, handover the amount of Euros you require on the “Carte” and the card is issued – they do not want any personal details from you.





We are very surprised that our good friend “Travel Agent Dina” did not point you in this direction|||Bonjour CAM,


This is not a good idea to call with a CC and especially with a foreign CC. When u use a CC in a call-box, they charge 15Euros minimum on a French CC even if you stay 3 minutes or 5mns. The best is to buy this prepaid card for 7,5Euros in "bureau de tabac or presse" and u can call UK for at least 45mns and maybe more.


To get a debit card, yes this is possible but the bank may ask u for lotta documents as in France, we love papers...


Good luck