Online banking

I don't have an advise on this one, I'm afraid, but as I'm also interested in the topic I shall gladly follow this thread :) But I've heard of these two which don't seem to charge all the hefty charges that Italian banks put on various transactions: http://www.bancaintesa.it) http://www.relaxbanking.it/

Hi, we have an account with Unicredit with online banking facility, and we are very happy with it. I not only pay bills, but pay things like insurance through a bonifico, and even transfer money from Italy to our UK bank account with Barclays when we are in the UK. They only charge me 1 Euro for this using SEPA! We also have a debit card which is both Bancomat and VPay. This is, in effect, a Visa debit card, and you can use this card to pay for anything in any country. We tried this out when we drove back through Europe, and it worked really well. Barclays have just said that I can transfer money the other way now using SEPA and it will only cost me £10 rather than the £25 they charge if you go into the bank. The charges for our Unicredit account are considerably less than the charges we had to pay on the old Cooperativo bank account. They also tend to have someone in the bank who speaks English who can explain everything to you! Hope this helps!

Also have a look at webank.it    

you may find this a useful site www.abruzzolutely.com/forum

Must say we too have had a Unicredit account now for some 5 years and it is perfect to do all banking and bills and phone top ups. Online banking really is easy when you get used to it so don't worry too much about the language thing and also most branches have a computer in there for customers to use so anything you don't understand can be spelt out for you at the branch.

Most,if not all Italian banks,offer this facility nowadays.My personal recomendation ( because the choice of bank can be very important) would be to use your local B.C.C bank which would probably be called the B.C.C. celano...This is the network of cooperative -credit banks which are by statute closely linked to the local communities.Our experience has been (after years of the big banks) very positive.Despite their apparently local "aspect" they have an excellent on line banking service i do all my banking on line and pay gas,electricity,telephone,internet and several other things by direct debit.Their site is extremely safe,these banks offer all normal debit/credit card facilities, i regularly make bank transfers abroad,receive monies from abroad and their bank charges are modest comparitively with the big banks.They,we have seen are more attentive to your "local" needs like loans for house repairs and similar and are generally people friendly their on line banking has both German and English mode.  

Cioa e tutti, I use the Bancaintesa, well actually I opened an account with my local bank (Carivit) in my village & they were taken over by Banca Intesa e Sanpaolo. I still have mysterious (unexplained/overexplained) payments & shrinkage to my account over the year but the online part seems to work o.k. They give you a little electronic key to use online. The helpline is actually helpful & sometimes speaks English. Tha advantage is that I can go into my local bank to collect chequebooks etc. but also pay bills online.  UK transfers usually arrive within 3 days & do not seem to aquire any extra charges along the way. In bocco al lupo Chris

Now Banco di Napoli....

I've never had an account since I left Italy back at the turn of the 80's. At the time I had an account at the Banco di Santo Spirito and have no idea what happen to it. Reading from other posters is seems that Unicredit comes high with stars. Is it quite a straightforward process?

Wll Rosanella As the Banks name I expect......'Santo Spirito"

I opened an account with this bank from the UK on the recomendation of an Italian friend living in the UK. They are really helpful and the charges seem very insignificant. I have a current account, linked savings account ATM card and credit card. The credit card is free as long as you buy something every month - I top up the mobile. Access is simple...it took a little while to get the cards through but in the end, because our italian house is uninhabitable they agreed to post them directly to me in Edinburgh. Whenever I am really stuck they also email back pretty quickly! Service with a smile I'd say. Incidentally you can also order a withdrawal of cash from them and then pick it up from any Post office with 4 days notice or from various banking counters they have nominated throughout Italy.