banking in italy
 

Hello everyone we are hoping to move over to near Lucca this month we wanted to ask you clever people what is the best way to do banking for expats does anybody use internet banks and withdraw money from cash points or is it better to open an Italian bank account and if so can we do this before we become residence. Once again thanks in advance for any help and advice. Larry and Caron

Re: banking in italy
 

are you going to become resident and own own home

Re: banking in italy
 

Hello yes we have bought a house near Lucca and will be living there full time

Re: banking in italy
 

Did you use an Italian Bank Account to purchase the house (either through a mortgage lender or outright..

This would be an italian account to use initally?

Re: banking in italy
 

When we purchased the house the money was paid into the sellers account directly from our currency exchange company

Re: banking in italy
 

Have a look at Fineco that is linked to Unicredit. Quite easy to open an account.

Re: banking in italy
 

Yes you can open an nonresident account, but then you will have to close it and open an resident account at a later date. Some nonresident accounts allow you to do virtually nothing, and so are worse than useless. However all you need is a codice fiscale - the original copy - and your passport.

Re: banking in italy
 

Have a look at BancoPosta - its charges are generally less than at other banks.

Re: banking in italy
 

I opened a non resident account with Barclays - mainly because there was a branch nearby with ATM. Then changed to resident account once permanently in country.

Scratcher

Re: banking in italy
 

I've just opened an internet only ac with Hello Bank, with debit and credit cards, and 2 step authentication via a mobile phone app.

Re: banking in italy
 

I have been with Unicredit for 14 years (from when it was banca di roma) and have never had any problems with them, they are simple to use, and seem to avoid alot of the burocracy that many smaller italian banks seem to create for themselves and you, there are branches everywhere, the internet banking is simple to use, and if you have to switch branch, they do it almost instantly, without any absurd documenatation being required.

Re: banking in italy
 

Actually, most Italian Banks see no difference now in non-resident/resident accounts but I agree are limited...

If you only want to pay money in and initally a few bills then go with a local bank in the town where your house is... and then if okay and upon residency switch from non-resident to resident accounts...

Italian Banking (despite being famous for the word Lombard)... is actually quite backward. So depending on your actual complexity of transactions, if it is just a few payments for the house, just use a local bank otherwise, you could try Barclays, Deutsche, ING, Bank Paribas, etc who are international retail banks in Italy... and the branch network is wider... (ATM are generally free in similar banks and internet banking reduces fees)....

Choices !

Banking with Poste Italiane
 

How good is banking with poste italiane?
I read that their fees are relatively low and outlets are found in almost every town and sometimes even in villages.

Janin

Re: banking in italy
 

If you still have income in the UK I would recommend the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Pay in £500 per month and you get a debit card with free withdrawals from ATM's and no exchange rate commissions. It is as good as it gets, unless someone knows better.

New Bank Account in Italy
 

Well, we are (still) banking in the US and Germany, so I suppose British banks are not the way to go.
We do not mind opening a new bank account in Italy and would then look for a good method of transferring funds.....

Does anybody have good/bad experience with 'poste'?

Janin