Finance
“À partir du 20 novembre 2026, les banques françaises devront vérifier la solvabilité de leurs clients pour tous les découverts bancaires, y compris ceux de moins de 200 € ou de moins d'un mois, alors que cette vérification n'était pas systématique auparavant.”
Plain restatementFrom 20 November 2026, French banks will be legally required to carry out a creditworthiness assessment before granting an authorised overdraft, including overdrafts below 200 euros or repayable within one month, which were previously outside the scope of that obligation.
This post is mostly accurate. French law does change on 20 November 2026: an ordinance of 3 September 2025, which transposes a 2023 EU directive, removes the exclusions that kept credit under 200 euros and overdrafts repayable within one month outside the consumer credit rules, so a creditworthiness assessment will be required before an authorised overdraft is granted, including a small one. Two things the post leaves out matter. The Ministry of the Economy has stated that the new rules do not apply to overdraft authorisations already granted before 20 November 2026, and that authorisations below 200 euros fall under a lighter, proportionate regime in which checking the Banque de France incident file is optional. The banking federation and the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir both describe the change as a shift in legal framework and paperwork rather than the end of small overdrafts, and both say banks can continue to offer them. What remains unclear is how the assessment will work in practice, because implementing decrees were still being prepared and their current status was not confirmed here. General information only - not financial advice.
[drifted from the evidence:] À partir du 20 [drifted from the evidence:] novembre 2026, [drifted from the evidence:] les banques françaises devront vérifier la solvabilité de leurs clients pour tous les découverts bancaires, y compris ceux de moins de 200 [drifted from the evidence:] € ou de moins d'un mois, alors que cette vérification n'était pas systématique auparavant.
[added by the neutral restatement:] From 20 [added by the neutral restatement:] November 2026, [added by the neutral restatement:] French banks will be legally required to carry out a creditworthiness assessment before granting an authorised overdraft, including overdrafts below 200 [added by the neutral restatement:] euros or repayable within one month, which were previously outside the scope of that obligation.
Red-tinted words in the claim drifted from the evidence. Green-tinted words are what a neutral restatement needs.
The trace / claim to source
- The date is correct. Légifrance records that the provisions of Ordonnance n° 2025-880 of 3 September 2025 enter into force on 20 November 2026, as of 29 September 2026.
- The legal mechanism is correct. Article L. 312-4 of the code de la consommation, in the version in force until 20 November 2026, excludes credit operations below 200 euros and overdraft authorisations repayable within one month from the consumer credit chapter, and those exclusions fall away on that date.
- A prior creditworthiness assessment for small overdrafts is the substance of the change. The senator's question states it as an obligation to assess solvency before opening or extending an overdraft, including below 200 euros and under one month, and the ministry's answer describes the regime that will apply rather than disputing it. UFC-Que Choisir states that a small overdraft will have to give rise to a solvency analysis before being granted.
- The source of the rule is an EU directive. Directive (UE) 2023/2225 states in its recitals that overdraft facilities repayable within one month, and credit free of interest and charges, should not be excluded from its scope, and it cites prevention of over-indebtedness as the reason.
- Income and charges are among the elements the assessment rests on, and consumer protection and prevention of over-indebtedness are the stated objectives of the directive and of the French transposition.
- The claim says the check will apply to "tous les découverts bancaires," without stating that the Ministry of the Economy's answer says the new rules do not apply to overdraft authorisations granted before 20 November 2026. A reader could conclude that an existing overdraft will be re-examined on that date, which the ministry's answer and the FBF both say is not the case.
- The claim presents one uniform check, while the ministry's answer says authorisations below 200 euros will be subject to a proportionate regime in which FICP consultation is optional, and the FBF says the assessment must be proportionate to the amount and the duration. The check that applies to a 150 euro overdraft is therefore not the same exercise as for a large loan.
- The claim's scope is authorised overdrafts, but it does not say so. Press coverage distinguishes the authorised overdraft, which is a credit arrangement with a ceiling and a rate, from the unauthorised overrun beyond that ceiling, which is a different legal object. Writing "tous les découverts bancaires" blurs that line.
- The claim says the check "n'était pas systématique auparavant," which is accurate about the legal obligation but leaves out that, per the FBF, an authorised overdraft has never been granted automatically and has always required the bank's agreement based on the client's situation. The FBF characterises the change as one of legal framework and formalism rather than the introduction of scrutiny where there was none.
- What the assessment will require in practice for a small overdraft is not settled by the ordinance alone. The FBF stated in November 2025 that implementing decrees and orders were being drafted, and no decree text was retrieved in this investigation.
- Whether the commencement date will hold cannot be verified in advance. The instrument currently sets 20 November 2026, but a commencement date can be amended by a later instrument, and 20 November 2026 is after the verdict date of 29 September 2026.
- How individual banks will apply the proportionate regime below 200 euros, and whether access to small overdrafts changes in practice, is not established by any source found. The senator's question raises the possibility of restricted access to small liquidity facilities, and the ministry's answer and the FBF both state that banks will still be able to grant them. That is a question about future behaviour, not a documented outcome.
Ordonnance n° 2025-880 of 3 September 2025 transposes EU Directive 2023/2225 into French law, and Légifrance records its entry into force as 20 November 2026. A corrective ordinance of 2 December 2025 carries the same commencement date. The version of article L. 312-4 of the code de la consommation in force until 20 November 2026 excludes from the consumer credit chapter, among others, credit operations below 200 euros and "les opérations consenties sous la forme d'une autorisation de découvert remboursable dans un délai d'un mois." Those exclusions end on that date, which places small and short authorised overdrafts inside the consumer credit framework, where a creditworthiness assessment is required before the contract is concluded. The senator's written question describes the effect as an obligation, from 20 November 2026, to carry out a prior solvency analysis for any opening or extension of an overdraft, including where it is below 200 euros and for less than one month. The Ministry of the Economy's answer does not contest that description and adds two operational points: overdraft authorisations below 200 euros will be subject to a proportionate regime in which consultation of the Banque de France FICP file is optional, and the new rules do not apply to overdraft authorisations granted before 20 November 2026. The same answer states that flat minimum overdraft charges will be abolished and folded into the APR, which is capped by the usury threshold. The Fédération bancaire française describes the change as partly true and limited: overdrafts below 200 euros and under one month move into the consumer credit framework while larger ones were already there, banks will still be able to offer them, existing authorisations are not affected, the solvency assessment must be proportionate to the amount and the duration, and no debt-to-income ratio is imposed by the texts. It also states that an authorised overdraft has never been automatic and has always required the bank's agreement. UFC-Que Choisir reaches a similar conclusion: small overdrafts are not banned, they are regulated, and a solvency analysis must be carried out before one is granted.
Complete reasoning
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Answers come only from the case file above; nothing is added.
Is it true that French banks will have to check creditworthiness for all overdrafts from 20 November 2026?
Mostly, yes, but only for authorised overdrafts, including small ones under 200 euros or repayable within a month. The claim's wording of 'tous les découverts bancaires' does not make clear that it refers specifically to authorised overdrafts, not unauthorised overruns.
Will banks re-check overdrafts that customers already have before 20 November 2026?
No. The Ministry of the Economy's answer states that the new rules do not apply to overdraft authorisations already granted before that date.
Does this mean small overdrafts will now go through the same strict check as a large loan?
No. The Ministry of the Economy says authorisations below 200 euros fall under a lighter, proportionate regime where checking the Banque de France incident file is optional, and the banking federation says the assessment must be proportionate to the amount and duration.
Were banks previously granting overdrafts with no checks at all?
The legal obligation to assess solvency was not systematic before, but the banking federation says an authorised overdraft has never been automatic and has always required the bank's agreement based on the client's situation.
How exactly will the new solvency check work for small overdrafts?
This was not established by the investigation. Implementing decrees were still being prepared and no decree text was found, so the practical details of the assessment remain unclear.