Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Hello,

This is just to share my experience.

Lately I've been trying to find out about opening a bank account in Italy. I was shook by the way the pound's value started decreasing. As low as £1.06 per euro! When I arrived in March it was at £1.18. So I wanted to move my money from my UK account to an Italian account as soon as possible.

I went to INTESA SAN PAOLO, just because it was next to my house.

First of all, I went to the appointment thinking I wanted a conto di base. Just because I wanted the simplest account possible. Just anything to put my money into. The consultant said there was a much better account than that: CONTO XME (per me). He said that the conto di base is actually very limiting, and that conto xme is also free for anyone under 35 and it has no limits in terms of taking money from ATMS of other banks (such as BPM, Unicredit etc.), no charges of any kind whatsover. For those who don't know, you normally have to pay every year to keep your bank account open, you can only take money out a certain amount of times for free and if you exceed the limit you're charged. This conto per me, has no limits at all if you're under 35:
https://www.intesasanpaolo.com/it/pe...nti-e-libretti

I wanted to open this account, though I only had a passport and a codice fiscale with no residency. The consultant believed that I could only open this account after becoming resident with a carta d'identità (which bears the residency address). Of course, waiting to get residency takes a while and I wanted to move my money as soon as possible. So he said that there are non resident accounts available, but they are a really bad choice because of the limitations, the costs etc. He also said that they're such a bad choice that he's only opened a few of them because almost nobody wants one. I said it was ok for now, because I just want to move my money, and I'll open a conto per me as a resident once I've obtained residency.

Well the consultant contacted me today to tell me that it's possible to open this conto per me, WITHOUT residency. I don't know why, but I'm not complaining!

Another thing. When I was still in England I tried contacting the banks for information using a hotline that was for people calling from abroad. What I can say now is to avoid this, because they're likely to tell you that you need to come in person to discuss. Anything you say: you must come in person, we can do nothing for you over the phone. Or even if you try by email, or chat. I had this problem with POSTE ITALIANE and UNICREDIT. What you need to do is find the contact details of a particular branch, call the branch directly, and speak to a consultant.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

British/Italian here. Interesting that they got you to open it even if you are not resident but I belive luck played its part. I have ING direct and when I moved to UK the came after me as they found out some how that I was not resident in Italy anymore.
At the end all the little money I have in € I have plance in Transferwise.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Well, a few months ago the pound was worth €1.20 and even more if you go back further. There's a general opinion that the pound will fall because of Brexit, so this suggests that it might be a good move. However, you can't be sure - all kinds of things can happen. I see that today £1 = €1.1; I would have expected it to be lower.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

In the last 10 years the GBP v Euro has been between 1.06 and 1.44. Any event can cause major changes and Brexit is not little... But the change can be either way and is not always as you would expect. It may well be the markets think there is now a better chance of a more "positive" result on Brexit. If by some miracle there is a deal outcome with everyone happy the pound could shoot up, at least for a little while. :lol:

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Ah well it was too good to be true...they just told me they won't open it...unfortunately we can't delete posts here...I would delete this if I could...

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

OK back again.

So there seems to be a short-term solution as far as banks are concerned.

If you don't have residency but you desperately need an account (so your employer can pay you), there is such thing as a prepaid card (carta prepagata). It has a limit on it as well. Something like 10,000 euros. I can't remember exactly. I THINK you can get this without residency, but I need to go back and talk about it some more. It also has an IBAN, so you can receive money on it as well.

Someone I know said that the post office does one: postpay evolution.

Seeing that residency takes a while, you might get employed before you residency certificate arrives. But how will you receive your pay if you don't have a resident back account?
Well this prepaid card seems like an option, but I'm still looking into it.
The bank consultant said that she gives loads of these cards to foreigners. It's a typical solution for them.

Another thing is that at Instesa San Paolo, they told me to try in a bigger branch to see if I could open a non-resident account.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

If you want a temporary place to hold your money in Euro either Currencyfair, Transferwise or Fineco bank would do. I know at least CurrencyFair have facilities to allow payment into your account. There are others out there.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

I opened my bank account with Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano before obtaining residence. I've no idea if the fact they largely serve South Tyrol makes them different in this regard but I only mention it because I believe certain banks will offer accounts to non-residents.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Hi, thanks, having other options is good for me right now...
I just spoke to the post office about the postpay evolution...they don't need residency but they need l'attestato di soggiorno, which also come from the ufficio anagrafe (just like residency does). It takes 3 months, which is shorter than the residency waiting time (in Milan it takes months for the appointment, then months to obtain residency).
The man I spoke to also said that with the attestato di soggiorno you can also open a conto di base.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Do you think an Italian employer would pay into one of these accounts?
Do you know what documents are necessary to open these accounts? If I'm not wrong, they are all online banks...I've never used one before...

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Ah I just remembered! Intesa San Paolo do a prepaid card that doesn't require residency, BUT I don't know if they need l'attestato di soggiorno...I need to go back...

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

First off note I say a temporary as ultimately you indicated you will become resident. You may need a UK bank a/c for one or more of these, hence the temp solution. You can open an account online for all of them. Fineco parent is Italian. So it may be worth contacting them to see how easy it would be to transfer over eventually. Note some places do not accept evolution cards (or did not last I looked at them).

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Thanks for answering.

Re: Information about bank accounts for those who might need it
 

Some news...

I managed to find someone who will do a non-resident account: a different branch of Intesa San Paolo. It costs 30 euro per month, a large sum, but it is only for temporary use until I have residency.
They also do a prepaid card, with an IBAN, annual cost of 30 euro per year, and all you need for this is a codice fiscale, passport, (+ permesso di soggiorno for extra-UE). You also need to book an appointment with a consultant. Mine is in one week from now, booked today. This card is called: flash/superflash.

The lesson from this story is that you just need to go to all banks until someone will give you what you want, and sometimes there are differences between branches of the same bank.

The post office wanted an ATTESTATO DI SOGGIORNO. They said that up until last year it wasn't necessary, but after incidents with fraud they changed the rules. The post office said to ask the ufficio anagrafe about it. I went to the ufficio anagrafe this morning and they said that they couldn't help me with it, that I needed to go and speak to someone else in the comune and bla bla bla. The worker in the ufficio anagrafe also said that it was probably unlikely that the person who told me to speak to would give me the attestato.