Banking ban

The banking ban on issuing checks is decided when you accumulate 2 following situations :

• You wrote a bounced check. This is the case when cashing the check puts you in a situation of unauthorized overdraft or exceeding the authorized overdraft

• You don't have regularization process upon request from the bank.

The ban on issuing checks concerns all your personal accounts, even those held in other banks.

You may also be subject to a bank ban if you are a co-owner of a joint account or a undivided account on which another co-holder has issued an unadjusted NSF check.

To avoid a bank ban, you can appoint a single manager in case of NSF checks. You must do this before any payment incident (at or after account opening).

In this case, the prohibition on issuing checks will apply only to the accounts of the designated person responsible.

To do this, you can use the following document template:

Designate a single manager in the case of NSF checks on a joint or undivided account

Judicial Prohibition

The judicial prohibition on writing checks is a additional penalty pronounced by a judge.

It sanctions one of the offenses following:

• Issuance of checks despite the bank ban on issuing checks
• Issuance of a check, followed by withdrawal of the provision from the account, with the intention of harming the beneficiary
• Check opposition outside of valid objections (loss, theft, fraudulent use) with intent to harm the recipient
• Counterfeiting or forgery of checks or credit cards

The judicial prohibition on issuing checks is in addition to a fine or imprisonment.

If it penalizes the issuing of a check despite a bank ban, it may be supplemented by a penalty of (€375,000) of fine or 5 years in prison.

The ban on issuing checks concerns all your personal accounts, even those held in other banks.

Bank File Enrollment

The prohibition on issuing checks shall be recorded during 5 years to Central Check File (CCF).

FCC data is available to all banks.

Return of checkbooks

The banking or judicial ban on issuing checks requires you to return all your checks to your bank(s).

Impact on other banking services

The ban on writing checks does not mean that you are banned from your bank account. You still benefit from the right to account.

However, the bank that manages your account can take theone of the following decisions :

• Change without your consent the account agreement by withdrawing benefits
• Close your account within a time limit

In the latter case, you can open an account in the following institutions: 

• Either any bank that accepts
• Or that indicated by the Banque de France, after the application of the right to account

Thus, you can enjoy the basic services (cashing of checks and bank transfers, a payment card with authorization from the bank, deposit and withdrawal of cash at the counter).

Request a correction from the bank branch

To challenge your bank ban, you must ask your bank branch to correct its internal databases. You can make this request at the counter or by mail.

Your bank must ask the Banque de France to unsubscribe from the FCC within 10 working days.

Apply to the banking ombudsman and the FCC

If after 10 working days, the error is not corrected, you can use the banking ombudsman. You can also contact the FCC.

Complain if mediation fails

You can file a complaint online with the National Commission for Information Technology and Freedoms (Cnil) to assert your right of rectification.

Submit a complaint online to the Cnil

You must attach a statement of the information entered in the FCC less than 1 month.

If you do not have a FCC statement or it is more than 1 month old, you must ask for it at the branch of the Banque de France closest to your home. For that, you can introduce yourself over the counter with a piece of identification.

You can also request it by post signed, accompanied by a double-sided copy of your signed ID. You can use the following document template:

Request a Statement from the Central Check File (CFC)