Cie

Hello,
I'm delighted to have found this website and find the comments really informative. So here goes with my first post. We are hoping to purchase a property near Cortona. We understand that we will need to open a bank account in Italy in order to withdraw the purchase funds in the form of banker's drafts to pay the deposit(s) and the final balance of the purchase price. Does anyone have experience of how much either Monte dei Paschi or UniCredit (both of whom appear to have branches in Cortona) might charge to receive our purchase funds in Euros from the UK?

Also, does anyone happen to know whether these particular branches in Cortona have any bilingual staff to help us open an account ... until my Italian gets up to speed! Any advice appreciated. Thanks for your help!

philat98

A very good choice of location. Cortona is a beautiful town and there are quite a few English speaking people living there.

Unicredit don't charge to transfer in Euros from the UK. I think if you make an appointment to open an account they might find you an English speaking clerk. You could always try a bigger branch in Siena or Arezzo.

Cie

Thank you, that's very helpful to know! We love Cortona and we've come across a lovely place, so fingers crossed! We're discussing price today (subject to tomorrow's survey) and hoping to make a formal offer via solicitor early next week. After that, we can make a plan to come over an open an account.

Thanks again!

Plan B

Hi Cie. Whilst you may eventually need an Italian bank account it is not essential initially. You could use a UK Foreign Exchange company to make a payment from the UK direct to your seller's Italian bank account. This would have the advantage of the transaction(s) being in English, swifter and almost certainly save you money.
There are a number of these FX companies, for example FairFX and The Times World Currency Service. Because they specialise in converting currencies and in transferring money abroad they do so more swiftly and cheaply than the majority of UK banks. In the case of even a modest house purchase the saving will run into a few thousands of Euros.
Both companies have easy to use online and telephone services as well as apps through which you can make transfers simply.