GuideEBICSFrance
EBICS in France works differently.
French banks use the same protocol as German and Swiss banks, but a French payment is authorised by a person: either the file arrives signed with that person’s certificate (EBICS TS), or the person validates it in the bank’s online banking afterwards (EBICS T). Here is what that means, and how each bank does it.
France, against Germany and Switzerland
| France | Germany, Switzerland | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal signature | A certificate from a recognised authority, on hardware (TS), or none and a validation in the bank's portal (T) | An EBICS key the software generates, registered at the bank by letter |
| Versions | 2.4 and 3.0 | Mostly 2.5 and 3.0 |
| Order selection in 2.4 | FileFormat parameter | Country order types |
| Bank address | Often per regional bank | Usually one per bank or shared gateway |
EBICS T and EBICS TS
Confirming an EBICS remittance by fax was withdrawn at the end of 2016. Since then CFONB, the French banking standards committee, recommends two modes, and every French bank offers one or both.
EBICS T: validate in the bank’s portal
The file is transported to the bank without a personal signature. A person authorised on the account then logs in to the bank’s online banking and validates it, with the bank’s own strong authentication. No certificate to buy, but one more step per bank for every remittance.
EBICS TS: the file arrives signed
The person’s signature travels with the file, so the bank can execute it straight away. The certificate behind that signature must be issued by an authority the bank recognises and, in CFONB’s guide, kept on hardware such as a USB token. SWIFT 3SKey is the best-known example; CFONB keeps a list of compatible certificates, last updated on 7 April 2025.
The hardware rule is starting to move. Banque Populaire’s EBICS conditions in force from 9 October 2025, like Caisse d’Epargne CEPAC’s contract of April 2024, accept the personal signature certificate “on a cryptographic hardware device or on a secure remote server (remote certificate)”, as long as a certification authority recognised by the bank issued it. Banque Populaire’s 2015 conditions allowed hardware only.
Bank by bank
Each row is taken from the bank’s own conditions, guide or web page. Your contract with the bank governs, and banks change these terms.
| Bank | EBICS T: where the order is validated | EBICS TS | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Société Générale | An execution order in Sogecash Net, Global Cash or Progeliance Net | Signed file (Sogestel TS) | Sogestel EBICS T conditions |
| La Banque Postale | Electronic validation in the OPnet web banking | Orders validated on sending with a signature certificate (Certinomis card) | La Banque Postale, EBICS |
| HSBC France | Online confirmation in the bank's internet platform | Personal signature; HSBC offers SWIFT 3SKey and recommends TS | HSBC France, EBICS |
| Caisse d'Epargne | Each remittance validated with strong authentication in the bank's online banking | Personal certificate on a hardware device or a remote certificate, from a recognised authority | CEPAC EBICS contract, 04-2024 |
| Banque Populaire | Each remittance validated with strong authentication in the bank's online banking | Personal certificate on a hardware device or a remote certificate, from a recognised authority | EBICS conditions, 09/10/2025 |
| Natixis | Validation in the parapheur of the Natixis Entreprises portal | Signed file (joint signature) | Guide de remise des ordres, October 2025 |
| Crédit Coopératif | Separate signature in the bank's online banking | Signed file (joint signature) | Coop@ccess |
| Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne | Orders confirmed through the bank's order-validation service | Files signed in the company before sending | CMB, EBICS |
| Memo Bank | Statements only: payment orders are not accepted under T | Payment orders, set up as one transport connection and one signing connection with a certificate from a certification authority | Memo Bank help, July 2026 |
Five more things that differ
The bank address can be regional
A French banking group often runs one EBICS host per regional bank. Caisse d’Epargne CEPAC’s contract, for example, names the host CEPAFRPP131 at an address ending in /cepac. Take the host ID and address from your own contract, not from a colleague at another region of the same group.
Status reports differ by bank
Some banks send a status report only when something is wrong. Banque Palatine’s EBICS guide says no positive status report is produced: if no report arrives, the file was accepted. Natixis, by contrast, sends three levels of report during the day. Ask your bank which it does before you decide what “no answer yet” means.
Statements may come as CFONB 120
Besides camt.053, many French banks still deliver the fixed-length CFONB 120 statement. Caisse d’Epargne and Memo Bank list both. Which one you receive is set in your contract.
Bank certificates are renewed
French banks replace their own EBICS certificates from time to time. The first transfer after a renewal fails with EBICS code 091008, and the fix is to fetch the bank’s keys again and compare the new fingerprints with the ones the bank sends you.
Authentication and encryption keys can be your own
Only the TS signature needs a certificate from an outside authority. The certificates for authentication and encryption may be self-signed, and CFONB asks that self-signed ones are renewed at least every five years.
How BankConnector connects French banks
BankConnector connects French accounts over EBICS 3.0 with EBICS T. You create and approve the payments in your own system, BankConnector writes the file the bank expects and sends it over EBICS with your connection’s own keys, and your authorised person validates it in the bank’s online banking. Nobody at your company needs a USB token or a certificate from an outside authority, and statements and status reports come back into your system the same way.
The French banks we connect are on the list of supported banks, each with its channel and formats.
Questions
What is the difference between EBICS T and EBICS TS?
With EBICS T (transport) the file reaches the bank without a personal signature, and a person authorised on the account validates it afterwards in the bank's online banking. With EBICS TS (transport and signature) the file arrives already signed by that person, so the bank executes it without a second step. CFONB recommends exactly these two modes since confirmation by fax was withdrawn at the end of 2016.
Do I need a 3SKey or another certificate for EBICS in France?
Only for EBICS TS. The personal signature that travels with a TS file must come from a certificate issued by a certification authority the bank recognises, which CFONB requires to be on hardware such as a USB token; SWIFT 3SKey is one of them. EBICS T needs no such certificate, because the person validates in the bank's online banking with the bank's own login.
Which EBICS version do French banks use?
EBICS 2.4 and EBICS 3.0. Bank contracts such as Caisse d'Epargne's and Banque Populaire's name those two versions, and a 2023 EBICS Forum presentation states that version 2.5 is not used at all in France. In version 2.4 French banks select the content with a FileFormat parameter; in 3.0 every country uses the same BTF codes, and CFONB publishes the table between the two.
What is CFONB?
The Comité Français d'Organisation et de Normalisation Bancaires, the French banking standards committee. It publishes the French EBICS implementation guide, the list of signature certificates compatible with EBICS TS and the French format tables, and it is the French member of the EBICS company.
Why does the bank want the initialisation letters signed and stamped?
The letters carry the fingerprints of your company's public certificates. The bank compares them with the certificates your software sent, so a letter signed by an authorised person, often with the company stamp, is what proves the keys are yours. Banque Palatine, for example, asks for the letters by e-mail as PDF, signed by an authorised person and stamped.
French banks from your own system.
You send the payments in one format. We handle the French EBICS rules, bank by bank.
Related reading: host-to-host bank connectivity, the pain.001.001.09 migration and open banking versus host-to-host.
Sources: CFONB, “EBICS – Guide de mise en œuvre en France” version 2.1.5 (May 2014), its list of certificates compatible with EBICS TS (7 April 2025) and its page on strengthening EBICS security; each bank’s document linked in the table; Banque Palatine’s Guide Client EBICS (09/2022); Natixis’s Guide de remise des ordres (October 2025); and “EBICS – Status Quo in Europe and next steps”, SIZ, EBICS Forum Switzerland, 18 September 2023. This page describes what banks have published; it is not legal advice, and your own contract with the bank governs.