Paying EDF by IBAN and BIC

jethro · Post by **jethro** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 17:43

When we had a place in Bordeaux we used to pay all our EDF bills by using the EDF IBAN and BIC and transferring sums electronically from Belgium to Bordeaux. I have just received our first electricity bill for the Sorede house and there is no mention on it of any IBAN or BIC., and the free phone numbers cannot be accesssed from Belgium. They do not, of course, reply to emails. Could a kind soul please send me these two codes so that I can pay up before they cut us off on the fifteenth ? Thanks in advance.

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 18:49

I looked on my bills and can't find any of those numbers either.

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 19:06

I believe that those numbers are at the back of your check book. If I send you my number, it will go to my account maybe.

Check on the EDF web site and see what they say.

http://www.edfenergy.com/products-servi ... -pay.shtml

You can call this telephone direct but it's to BT landlines. Take a better look at this web site. It's in English so you might have to switch to a French site.

Blackduff

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 19:13

jethro wrote:When we had a place in Bordeaux we used to pay all our EDF bills by using the EDF IBAN and BIC and transferring sums electronically from Belgium to Bordeaux. I have just received our first electricity bill for the Sorede house and there is no mention on it of any IBAN or BIC., and the free phone numbers cannot be accesssed from Belgium. They do not, of course, reply to emails. Could a kind soul please send me these two codes so that I can pay up before they cut us off on the fifteenth ? Thanks in advance.

Sorry to state the obvious but if you sent them a cheque that would prevent you being cut off, then the next time you are at Sorede go and see them and set something up properly.........................

jethro · Post by **jethro** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 21:19

Perhaps I have been less than clear. I do not possess a French bank account, have not lived in the UK since 1980, am perfectly capable of finding my OWN IBAN and BIC, but need to know those of the Perpignan EDF people so that I can pay them as I did in Bordeaux. Being in Belgium makes it a tad wearisome to schlepp down to Perpignan when a few judicious strokes of the keyboard would do the job far quicker and more cheaply. As for cheques; France is light years behind Belgium in many things (culinary skills, tri sélectif, broadband supply) and still relies on primitive promissory paper when the country it treats with such heavy-handed condescension got rid of it years ago. The reason they are so coy about giving out their IBAN and BIC details is that they don't know they exist and cannot admit the fact.Also, intermediaries such as banks lose out when money transfers are instantaneous . It is tedious to find out the EDF phone numbers when they are so carefully concealed from people in neighbouring countries, so I thought some of the omniscient on this forum might be clued up on the matter. Sorry if I didn't make this clear.

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 23:09

jethro wrote: As for cheques; France is light years behind Belgium in many things (culinary skills, tri sélectif, broadband supply) and still relies on primitive promissory paper when the country it treats with such heavy-handed condescension got rid of it years ago. .

I'm not really sure what all this means but if France is so bad then why have a house there?

Are you also trying to say that they don't use cheques in Belgium anymore ........................

PaddyFrog · Post by **PaddyFrog** » Thu 08 Jan 2009 23:20

Jethro,
The easiest way would have been to set up your own internet account with EDF, and pay your bills direct from your keyboard as most Sensible International Property owners do!!
A pity BE does not have that facility, but hell La France is light years ahead of Belgium,Oops!!!

Maybe it is the wrong illustration considering light bulbs/ Ladders and Belgium's have a lot in common with the French style of Jokes!!!

Incidently Iban Nos of most companies are readably available on the Net.

All European Free phone numbers are readably accessible within Europe.

I use my French Cheques to pay for item within any Eurozone country, they are legally acceptable.

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Fri 09 Jan 2009 00:55

Serge wrote:
jethro wrote: As for cheques; France is light years behind Belgium in many things (culinary skills, tri sélectif, broadband supply) and still relies on primitive promissory paper when the country it treats with such heavy-handed condescension got rid of it years ago. .
I'm not really sure what all this means but if France is so bad then why have a house there?

Are you also trying to say that they don't use cheques in Belgium anymore ........................

Cheques are for dinosaurs!!!
Cash or internet bank transfers are in! When are the French going to get loadable cash credit cards like the Swiss have had now for many years?? I mean download cash onto your "carte bleue" from any ATM so you can pay your croissants and newspapers in electronic cash, not that stupid "Moneo" thing!

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Fri 09 Jan 2009 00:57

Jethro
I really do not understand you cannot find something this simple on the internet.

http://www.edf-bleuciel.fr/accueil/page ... 41412.html

All you have to click on the pages jaunes and it is available you need. There's a whole page about expats living and paying in France. Maybe since you're using high tech systems in Belgium, you cannot find this lo-tech site here in France.

Blackduff

thumbelina · Post by **thumbelina** » Fri 09 Jan 2009 06:37

Maybe cheques are for dinosaurs, but when there is a limit on your cb as to how much you can spend or withdraw each week (irrespective of whether you have 25 or 25000 euros in your account) sometimes cheques are a practical alternative.

Maybe, also, France is in the dark ages with banking in some ways, but to me it very much banking how it was 10 years ago in the UK. You can ring the bank directly, you can discuss any problems with them directly and they can help you out instantly.

Frankly, I prefer to be a dinosaur and to have this system of banking to doing everything over the internet or talking to a call centre in Bangladesh!

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Fri 09 Jan 2009 09:37

My remark was more aimed at transactions like payments for daily shopping at checkout counters, actually! How much time is taken in a queue by fumbling for checkbooks, producing ID cards and printing the check on the machine, verifying and signing.. and all this in rush hours????

Paying by cash-on-credit card takes less time than counting out notes and change from a wallet - it is truly instantaneous! No codes - just stick in your card - it is debited (the amount is subtracted) off the card itself - no behind the scenes call to the bank - the card is removed, the customer leaves. Count up all the time that saves per day at checkouts and figure the person-hours saved by employees and customers.

The sole condition - look very carefully after your card as theft of the card is the same as theft of ready cash!

edann42 · Post by **edann42** » Fri 09 Jan 2009 14:11

I agree with you Roger O! And when ARE they g0oing to offer 'cashback' at checkouts in France????? So convenient!!

PaddyFrog · Post by **PaddyFrog** » Fri 09 Jan 2009 21:20

edann42 wrote:I agree with you Roger O! And when ARE they g0oing to offer 'cashback' at checkouts in France????? So convenient!!

They do they call them GAB's

jethro · Post by **jethro** » Sat 10 Jan 2009 11:19

Dear me, how terribly sensitive people are about the host nation... After getting the phone number of the Perpignan EDF boutique through International Enquiries, you can eventually find a real human being who will tell you the wrong IBAN and BIC. You then phone again, find another conseillère and she gives you the right ones. You then pay your bill instantaneously and in comfort and without the French fiscal authorities being able to check out your non-existent bank account. For those of you living outside France and being billed for electricity in the PO, here are the necessary codes. You can do this from Britain as well, or from any other European country. EDF IBAN: FR60 20041 01009 0525 281D0 3093
EDF BIC : PSSTFRPPMON

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Sat 10 Jan 2009 12:56

jethro wrote:EDF IBAN: FR60 20041 01009 0525 281D0 3093
EDF BIC : PSSTFRPPMON

Are these correct?

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Sat 10 Jan 2009 13:02

Are these correct?

Of course they are, Jethro wouldn't make a mistake with his own IBAN and BIC numbers.

jethro · Post by **jethro** » Sun 11 Jan 2009 17:52

Well, I am daft enough to do that, but the figures I have quoted for the EDF Iban and Bic are for THEIR account, when one is paying in, not mine.

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Sun 11 Jan 2009 18:08

I know, I was just having a bit of fun.

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