Over one Million Affected by National Bank Register Data Breach: News Digest

France’s national bank account register has been hacked, MaPrimeRénov has relaunched with a new budget, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has restricted the U.S. ambassador’s access following a diplomatic faux pas, and France’s busiest airports are predicting delays of up to four hours due to EES systems during the peak travel season. Here are the headlines from French newspapers this week.

Over one Million Affected by National Bank Register Data Breach

The national bank account register fichier national des comptes bancaires (FICOBA), which lists all bank accounts held in France with their details, was hacked in late January, the French Ministry of Finance has confirmed.

The hackers are believed to have had access to the FICOBA database for several days, during which they accessed over 1.2 million active bank accounts. Compromised data includes account details such as IBAN/RIB numbers, identities, addresses and the user’s tax identification number. 

Holders of compromised accounts will be contacted by the Ministry of Finance in the coming days.

France’s Home Renovation Grant Relaunches

MaPrimeRénov, the state eco-renovation grant scheme, reopened on Monday, which allows homeowners to claim financial aid to contribute to the costs of eco-friendly renovation projects. Made available through Agence Nationale de l’Habitat, the scheme is aimed at improving the energy efficiency of properties. 

The scheme is open to households at all income levels, with the amount of aid scaled according to your revenu fiscal de reference from the previous year. Very low incomes could receive up to €32,000, whereas high incomes are capped at around €4000, covering around 10% of the total costs. 

The property must be your main home, the work must improve energy efficiency, and only homes with a DPE energy rating of E, F or G qualify. There are also cost limits (€40,000 max. for improvements of three energy classes or more and €30,000 for two), and work must be done by an RGE-certified professional.

France Restricts US Ambassador’s Access After Diplomatic Snub

France’s foreign ministry has blocked United States Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, from having direct access to government ministers after he failed to attend a scheduled meeting at the Quai d’Orsay. 

The meeting was called by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to discuss comments by the US administration, which were amplified by the US embassy, about the fatal beating of a far-right activist, Quentin Deranque, in Lyon. 

Barrot criticised the embassy’s role and said Kushner’s absence from the meeting violated basic diplomatic norms, which led to the decision to restrict his access to senior French officials. France has said the restriction could be lifted once Kushner explains himself and meets with the foreign ministry.

Popular French Airports Request EES System Delay

Paris Orly and Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airports, which are managed by Aéroports de Paris (ADP) group, has urged authorities to delay the introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES) at airports until after the peak tourist season.

The border security system is currently due to be fully operational by 10 April, but ADP has warned that this could cause delays of up to four hours at France’s two busiest airports, which together handled over 107 million passengers in 2025.

European airports where EES is fully implemented have already reported an 70% increase in wait times, before the start of peak season. 

Read more about the EES Systems here.