When you arrive in Italy, you might need a bank account to get payed to.
Until you get residency, you will only be allowed to get a non-resident bank account which basically does not allow you to get paid into, or own a credit card. You will probably also have problems paying your bills online since all vendors accept only Italian cards or an option called CBILL that you will have with your bank’s website (assuming you have a resident’s account I believe).
Although you can also pay bills in a tabaccheria with an international credit card.
With normal banks such as Intessa san paolo or Unicredit you will be required to open the bank account in the area where you live or work. If you’re a self-employed person working from home, then only close to where you live. And you will need to show them your rental contract.
If you can’t speak Italian well, they might have a problem letting you sign the contract since you can’t understand it. So you should bring someone with you.
The other option which I’ve used was an online bank. There are several of those with some differences between them. The one I chose was Fineco and I needed a resident’s account since I also had to close the one in my country and cancel all credit cards to avoid complication with the tax authority in my country.
I made the mistake of trying to open an account online and before I had my Italian identity card. After filling-in all of the information they will need you to show them your identification document via webcam. I tried showing my non-EU Passport but the girl on the other end was very short with me, made a face that she doesn’t understand what she’s looking at and closed the connection.
They also require many documents and at the time, their online website did not take all of that into account.
Eventually I had to go to a physical branch of Fineco and ask them to open my account.
They required a Passport (or Italian identity card if you already have one), Permesso di soggiorno, Residency registration document from the comune and apartment rental contract or other proof or where you leave if you don’t rent.
They also need you to let them know how you intend to fund the account and to prove it.
If you are self-employed, you will need to show your partita iva registration document.
If you are self-employed and still working on a foreign tax account from your country, they will not require you to show your partita iva registration document.
If you are a subordinate worker you will need to show a work contract.
You can get a credit card or a debit card or a multi-functional card that has both options included and you choose on the POS machine how you want to pay each time (except for online shopping which will always go on the credit card).
To get a credit card they will ask to see your last year’s tax return.
I told them this is my first year and I only have a tax return from my country in non-english language. So they skipped that requirement. They may also settle for showing them invoices in English from last year.
The limit for a new credit card is 1600 euros per month. So pay as much as you can as a debit card which will not block anything from this limit and keep the credit card for things where you must pay with a credit card.
After you get some income and they can see some history on you, you can ask to raise the limit or upgrade to a gold card if you qualify.
To start using your card you will need to have at least 3000 euros in your account in order to activate it. Until then you’ll be able to use the debit function of the card only. You get the card within 5 business days from opening the account.
You will also need a smartphone with their app due to 2-factor authentication requirements. So even if you access the bank’s website on your PC, you will need to confirm most actions on your smartphone.