In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hi Jacki, welcome to the wonderful world of Italian banking, this thread is fairly informative, GOOD LUCK :D [url]http://italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2275&highlight=banks[/url]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks Sarah. I've already learned the hard way........ I ran out of time as the house sale goes through next week! Now I just need to find out more about charges generally and if there is a bank that either doesn't charge or is very low.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Oh dear George - that's just frightened the hell out of me. Can't afford to stay with them, can't afford to leave. Where's the good news?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Jacki]Hi everyone. New to this but am currently in the process of buying a house in Umbria. I am completely baffled by the banking system - they seem to make charges for everything! Are there any banks there that operate like UK banks? I now know why the Italians stick to cash![/QUOTE]
Thats why I closed my Italian bank account. There are fees for everything. Even for just leaving the money in the account.
I was told that the Italian post office has the lowest fees.
Direct payments
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/09/2006 - 16:25In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
With all these costs, and only using a holiday home for max 8 weeks a year,
Is it possible to arrange payments for water, electricity and gas straight from a UK bank so as not to have an Italian bank account ?
I know Nationwide give free use of bank machines abroad to withdraw cash.
Any thoughts or ideas gratefully received.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=yorky28]With all these costs, and only using a holiday home for max 8 weeks a year,
Is it possible to arrange payments for water, electricity and gas straight from a UK bank so as not to have an Italian bank account ?
I know Nationwide give free use of bank machines abroad to withdraw cash.
Any thoughts or ideas gratefully received.[/QUOTE]
I pay my electricity and telephone online with a credit card and some comunes offer online payment for ici and rifuti (mine doesn't yet but I think it is something that is under development).
Water I haven't yet sorted out...piano piano, domane, domane as the neighbours keep saying!
The post office account gives you the option to pay bills like ici, gas, electric, rifuti online as long as you have all the relevant details re who, where, what, when etc
Hope this helps, lesley
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Although I have opened a bank account with the post office - I do my main affairs with a commercial bank as they have an English speaking person - and whilst my Italian language is not good enough it will do me fine - its a personal banking as she knows me - as soon as I walk in!
Italian banking tends not to be free - its just different!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=GlenB]
Italian banking tends not to be free - its just different![/QUOTE]
Yes, you may find that you don't mind paying a bit extra for the personal attention they (may) give you (mine are fabulous), like a direct phone line, a personal email address of someone you can deal with etc. But if you can get away without a bank, all the better...
I was also going to mention paying your bills online: many utility providers now offer online payment by credit card; within a few years you should be able to pay everything online. Look closely at your bill and you may find details on the back somewhere. I pay ICI, rifiuti, car tax (bollo) all online at [URL="http://www.taxtel.it"]TaxTel[/URL]. Only certain provinces are listed but they are adding new ones all the time.
I don't know about paying via your UK bank account, I doubt a direct debit will be possible and even if you make a transfer manually each time you pay you might find the charges defeat the object of the exercise...
Sarah
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Maybe it's a daft question but do I need an Italian account? If the post office will simply accept cash together with the bill, isn't the job done? Do I need an account at the PO to use it to pay bills? I'm assuming that I will be there frequently enough to do this - should be. My English debit card works in the supermarkets, my English credit card works in restaurants and shops so I'm hoping that once all the big bills of buying are done the rest should be easy. Am I being naive?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Yes, Jackie, you can pay all your bills with cash in the PO but after you have done that a few times, you`ll find you get very fed up standing in the queue. You do see life there but after a while it wears a bit thin!! Do you really want to spend your holidays in the post office?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
The only problem I can think of using your UK debit or credit card for everything is that they will make a charge for every foreign transaction and you will also get a lousy exchange rate. I have used Currencies Direct ( no transfer fee , good exchange rate ) ) to transfer enough money to keep us going for a few months to my Italian bank account . However we are not in Italy yet, (we move out on Friday ) so I may find that the bank charges cancel out any advantages . I will study my bank statement closely ( and continue to watch this thread for a better idea ! ). Oh for a simple life !
Hi,
If you are going to be transferring funds to your Italian bank account you will probably have to pay to receive your own money, around 0.15% (varies from bank to bank). However, if you use HIFX currency brokers, you are guaranteed no receiving charges or they will refund you if the bank does charge you. No other broker offers this. It's not answer to your bank problems but it will save you a few hundred euros, which can't be bad ;)
Sarah