Alison Dupré at work!

Originally from the UK, Alison Dupré has lived in France for over 10 years. She moved to Grenoble 18 months ago and now works at the Crédit Agricole Sud Rhone Alpes bank in Grenoble where she has set up the new “Bilingual Service”. James Dalrymple has a few questions.

Grenoble Life: Why has Crédit Agricole introduced a service offering financial advice in English?

Alison Dupré: There’s a large population of English-speaking customers in the region: in the Ardèche and Drome mainly Brits with holidays homes and in Isère expats who are employed in local companies or students. Although many clients have a good level in everyday French, when it comes down to discussing housing insurance or mortgage repayments that’s when things get a bit complicated!

GL: What services do you offer English speakers ?

AD: I’m based at the online branch at the head office where we have set up the free Bilingual Service. We can help Anglophones to open an account, provide them with means of payment and offer other services and products that they are entitled to have according to if they are residents or non-residents. The most important aspect of the Bilingual Service is that we give advice in English concerning all banking and insurance matters – I have a direct line where clients can call me if they are in France or abroad, we can communicate by e-mail or they can come to see me at the head office in Grenoble.

GL: Is this an increasingly common service now in French banks?

AD: Some banks advertise “English-speaking services” or have part of their web site in English, however as I mentioned in my article not all staff speak fluent English or understand cultural differences. A couple of months ago a lady phoned me to test if I was a “real” Anglophone. She  had contacted other banks which offered an “English-speaking service” but the staff were unable to understand her questions.

GL: How were you recruited for the job and what kind of training/qualifications did you need to get your job?

AD: I simply sent my CV to the bank when I first arrived in Grenoble and luckily my profile corresponded to a new position they were contemplating on creating.

As a student in the UK I had several holiday jobs in banks and during my Modern Languages degree I worked in the international department of a bank in France and in Madrid for an international finance company. I then obtained a Postgraduate diploma in Business Management in the UK and a similar French qualification.

After several years of teaching business English for Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand and for the Chamber of Commerce in Le Puy-en-Velay my husband was offered a new job in Grenoble.

When I arrived at the bank they had drawn up a training programme for me over six months. I also had to take several exams and carried out placements in different branches to gain the necessary experience.

GL: You said in your article for Grenoble Life that many people, including the French themselves, struggle with bureaucracy in France – have you mastered it now [laughs]?

AD: It helps having a French husband. I must admit that I deal with banking and insurance but my husband deals with the rest!

GL: As a long-time ex-patriot who has mastered the language and works in a French company, do you feel completely integrated into French life or do you still sometimes feel étrangère ?

AD: After 10 years I now feel completely integrated and strangely enough it’s when I go back to the UK that I feel étrangère. Although I speak fluent French I still have my “Jane Birkin” accent, but this doesn’t bother anyone and my work colleagues are proud to introduce me to others as “notre petite anglaise”.

Alison DUPRE
Bilingual Financial Advisor & Account Manager
Tel. 04 76 86 74 40
From abroad: 00 33 476 86 74 40

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