Romanian and French banking are radically different from each other. In this 22 million people country, where 47% of the population is still rural, banking is widely dominated by foreign banks (more than 90% of bank assets in 2006). Austrian banks (BCR – the number one Romanian bank, Erste Bank, Raiffesen), French banks (BRD – Groupe Société Générale), Dutch banks (ING, ABN Amro) and Italian banks (Unicredit), are the main players in the Romanian market. The rate of use of banking services by private individuals is extremely weak, in comparison with the European standard of approximately 25%. Checking accounts are only for professionals, and bank cards continue to be used by only a few. In this way, cash is used for the most part in financial transactions. In this context, it is very difficult for a banker to track the behaviour of private customers. For example, it is common practice for employers to open a bank account for every employee in order to deposit his salary: at the end of the month (or several times during the month depending on the case) the company gives a debit card to the employee to withdraw the salary in cash, at the nearest office. It must also be pointed out that this employee will want to convert almost all the salary in lei, the local currency (1€ = 3,50 lei) into a strong currency (euro, U.S dollar….). Exchange offices are all over the place and apply a very attractive exchange rate : this permits, anybody to be safe from local currency fluctuation which incidentally tends to become more reasonable as Romania comes closer to the Eurozone. Remember that Bucharest might be joining the 25-member European Union on january 1st 2007: the authorities made the decision on September 26.