1736 Paying in shops with cheques? and banks!

[QUOTE=Marinaw]We're hitting Ikea Rome on xmas eve with a long list and a big van. Trying to work out the best way of paying. Is it acceptable to pay by personal cheque - we have a non residents a/c and a bancomat card plus chequebook. In the Uk you can usually pay by cheque only up to the limit of a bank card. Will shops like Ikea accept a personal cheque with no bank card? I believe its actually illegal to bounce a cheque in Italy - is it therefore more or less likely that shops will take cheques without a bank card? Not sure if the cheque guarantee cards even exist there.
It will be a couple of thousand euros - we could put it on our credit cards but can get better exchange rates if we transfer the money to our bank in Italy beforehand.
But are Ikea likely to laugh at us trying to pay by cheque?

On the subject of banks, I'm pretty horrified about the service we get and how expensive it is. Does internet banking exist in Italy at all yet? When we get interest on current accounts here, no charges and online access the Italian banks seem to be back in the 60's in terms of customer care. If anyone has found a better service I'd love to hear of it - can you bank at the post office with a non residents account?

Thanks for any advice

M[/QUOTE]

Why not do it on your non Euro credit card? - the excahnge rate is usually better than you can get exchanging cash and better than you get for wired funds (esp. when you consider bank charges either end). Also there is always the chance the exchange rate will move in your favour between transaction date and settlement date but of course it could go the other way too.

Hi I think we can get a much better rate by exchanging the money direct to our bank unfortunately which is why I'd prefer to use a cheque if possible.
Does Italy have the same chip and pin system for credit cards as in the UK now?

M

No idea if IKEA will take a cheque without a bank card. Why not email in advance and ask?
Yes Italy does have chip and pin for both credit cards and bancomat.
Yes Italy does have Internet banking, certainly Banca de Roma and Banca Brescia do.
If you worried about costs yes the Post Office do operate a non residents account.
As for service being back in the 60's, we prefer the personal service we get.

ciao marinaw i bank with the unicredit bak online, there charges for the type of account we have are standard 10 € a month. you can now get a estero account at the post office changed in the last couple of months do not know any details try checking the bacaposta web site some of it is in english. hope this helps ciao marco

having problems with my n's sorry
[QUOTE=marco]ciao marinaw i bank with the unicredit bak online, there charges for the type of account we have are standard 10 € a month. you can now get a estero account at the post office changed in the last couple of months do not know any details try checking the bacaposta web site some of it is in english. hope this helps ciao marco[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your replies. I'd love to email Ikea but cannot find an email address for them for any sort of customer services! Funny that. I think they just want to get you in the shop..I know no shop in the Uk will accept a cheque without a card, just wondered if it was the same there. I have their phone no - but my Italian is not up to calling yet.
A personal banking relationship is great when you live there but difficult when I'm in the UK - would much prefer to be able to manage my account online like I can with natwest. I never thought I would appreciate my bank here so much! Will investigate your Post Office suggestion when we're out there at Xmas and try to decipher its website too - could save me a few €s. Our bank charges arn't horrific - about 40 euros a quarter but thats only for 3 standing orders and a couple of cheques...

M

Think it unlikely they will accept a cheque without bank card. Most people with bank cards here now use chip and pin. Do not see cheques being written in stores now we have thought about it. Suggest you ask your bank. As we said before Italy does have internet banking, we do all ours online now, no problems. It does not cost any extra either to internet bank in case you were wondering.

Thanks - think we will end up doing it on a uk credit card in that case.
Thats great to know its possible to run an online account - I wonder if its possible on a non resident account, somehow I doubt our local bank in Le Marche will offer it but I will ask with more hope in my heart now!

M

A number of years ago, having just arrived in Italy, so nothing completely sorted out on the bureaucratic front, we bought some things from IKEA and decided to pay with a cheque from our Italian bank account (having not yet recieved a bancomat card it was not an option). It was alot of hassle, they needed a photocopy of passports to prove identity (did not have our Italian identity cards at that point) and they insisted upon phoning our bank to check there were sufficient funds in our account!! Our bill was not particularly high. Therefore, especially as you will be doing your shopping on a Sat, also Christmas Eve and are clearly planning to spend a lot more that we did, I would definitely advise against going down the cheque line, use a bancomat card if you have on, or if not, pay by credit card.

Happy shopping
Anne2

Thanks Anne - sorry if I'm being truly stupid but can you just use the bancomat card to pay - I thought that was just for the hole in the wall machines with a daily limit? I have a pin no obviously - can it be used just like a uk switch card?

Suspect you're right though, credit card will be easiest.

The whole escapade is beginning to fill me with dread, Ikea refusing to take our money, supermarkets closed before we get there, snow on the mountains and a nightmare drive to Le Marche in a big van with no food for xmas day - if I imagine all the worst things that could happen they surely won't! Hmm theres wishful thinking for you. I expect Easyjet will go on strike just to make things perfect for us!

M

[QUOTE=Marinaw]can you just use the bancomat card to pay - I thought that was just for the hole in the wall machines with a daily limit? I have a pin no obviously - can it be used just like a uk switch card?

M[/QUOTE]

Yes, it can. The cashier swipes your card through their machine and taps in the total spent, hands you the small hand held machine and you tap in your pin number, hand it back and after a few seconds you recieve the receipt from the machine. If you have not used this method before, perhaps IKEA on Christmas Eve is not the place to try it out for the first time without your credit card as back up. Italians tend to pay cash or to use bancomat, credit cards are seldom used and cheques even less so.
There is a limit to how much can be taken out on a daily and a monthly basis, if you are planning to spend alot, it may be best not to use the bancomat as you may find you exceed this limit immediately and cannot use the card again for the rest of the month. You would still be able to get money form your account, but would have to go into the bank to do so.

Anne2

Ikea takes american express but will ask for your ID card or passport, so may be same for any foriegn credit card, have it available just in case.

[QUOTE=Marinaw]Thanks - think we will end up doing it on a uk credit card in that case.
Thats great to know its possible to run an online account - I wonder if its possible on a non resident account, somehow I doubt our local bank in Le Marche will offer it but I will ask with more hope in my heart now!

M[/QUOTE]
Yes you should be able to run your non resident account online we have clients who do so with no problems.

Thanks everybody for all your useful answers!

M

The rule is with Banks cheques is you can use them locally - but even when I tried to go to another branch of the same bank - they required a passport.

No great hassle - then you can pay cash at Ikea.

Most Italian banks cost (not like England) - mine does - but I get my own personal banker - and she speaks English - I love it - they arrange all your bills for you.

The cheapest bank is BancaPosta - but I like the bank I have.

We did Ikea in Naples last month, so we feel your anguish. Credit card seemed the easiest way to go - but they will need to see your passport for large transactions. And ours certainly were!

Good luck, and don't forget to take an electric screwdriver and a hammer for all that flat pack furniture you'll need to make!