How hard is to manage with only credit or debit cards? How widely accepted are they now? How about paying bills with euro-transfers?

Nick,
We have found the best way to manage most day to day cash needs is by using a debit card from our local (US) credit union who charge only 1usd per transaction and no exchange fees. Usually the exchange rate this way is very good and you can avoid all other bank fees. And bancomats are everywhere! Our card is with the Cirrus network which seems to be widespread in Italy. Paying bills is another issue altogether. We have managed so far to set up ENEL payments from our Italian bank account at Banca dell'Umbria with minimal trouble. As our adventure in Italy is really just beginning, I am sure we will have more info later.
Bruce in Niccone

Good to know. Cash is nice for some things but it's so much easier to just get a credit card bill. Or have it billed directly via debit.

Thanks

We too get by without a lot of cash. Our electric bill (ENEL), gas bill (Italgas), water bill (Umbra Acque), and phone bill (TelecomItalia) and car loan payment come directly out of our postal acct each month. Our morgage pymt is debited from our acct at Cassa di Risparmio di Fienze. Our SKY bill and Tiscali internet are charged to our (Italian) credit card issued thru the same back, which is automatically paid each month.

We were unable to autopay our SKY TV bill without an Italian CC, and the Lidl grocery store would not accept our US credit cards. I don't know if CC's from other EU countries would work or not.

That having been said, there are many smaller shops and restaurants that are cash only. Additionally, many places will give cash discounts, especially for larger purchases. But, as Bruce pointed out, there are bankomats everywhere.

My SKY Italia bill comes off my UK Visa cc every month, but TIM.it will not accept it on their site for recharging of my mobile phone credit.

From what I can figure our local banks have links with some European banks. Of course none of them in Italy. One of the locals has a link up with a bank in northern europe. They have a reasonable online package with everything I might need. The downside is thier ATM network is in a different country. But everything is in Euros. If I can do everything online,debit card,credit cards and use third party ATMS I'll be happy.

Anybody know about something called mini-cash? Sounds like a prepaid debit card for small purchases.

Thanks everybody.

Hi Barb,

Just read your blogs. Congratulations!

May I have your email or will you email me at dipierle[AT]yahoo[DOT]com as I have a few questions I would like to ask you.

Thanks, Patricia

Substitute [AT] with "@" and [DOT] with "." Edited for added antispam security [A.T.].

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AliceTwain,

I just spoke with my credit union about this. They said their fee to use an ATM in ITaly would be the same as if I were to use a non-credit union ATM here in the states: $2.00
As far as how they convert to euros, this is word for word what my credit union said. (of course they coudl be wrong*LOL*)

They will calculate the conversion rate differently based on who owns the machine. It
will be fairly uniform as most banks use the same base figure but I am positive that
different banks use slightly different rates. Unfortunately you wouldn't know unless you found out who owned the machine and called them to
find out.
Typically you are better off at an ATM as they rarely if ever charge a conversion fee so if they gave you a slightly lower conversion rate
it would be offset by no exchange fee.

Plus you may get dinged by who ever owns the ATM.

All the ATMs here used to be owned by banks,credit unions etc. Then the government decided that we needed more competion so they opened it up to everybody. If you use an ATM from a bank the cost isn't too much. But if you use one of the third party ones then the price will be much higher. The bank ATMS are all clearly marked so it's pretty easy to tell but the third party ones are often in small shops and gas stations. The sort of place you need a little money late at night for.

Hello,

Do you know the Bank, First Republic (in California and ?). They offer reimbursement of the ATM fee world wide. Last year I opened a checking account with them for the purpose of using the ATM's in Italy...never a fee with them.

Pat

Barbara, how do you get money into your Italian bank account? How much do you lose in the transfers, etc? How hard is it to get an Italian credit card and would it be profitable to do for just a year? I think the questions are just starting!

An easy way is use your American account to write a check (made out to yourself in dollars) and send it to you bank in Italy. Using the Italian bank, Banca Popolare dell'Adriatico, this turned out to be the most inexpensive way of doing things. You should probably check this out with your bank ahead of time.

I just checked out Citibank as they hold our mortage and it appears that it is possible to transfer money from here to there pretty easily. I guess you could even transfer money to yourself to put in an account in an Italian bank. Now I need to call to see what the conversion fees and other costs are. Will post when I find out. This is the link Citibank that explains it. If anybody has additional insight into what it says, please share. Thanks.

Stefanaccio--You must have posted just as I was writing this. Thanks for that info. Do you believe that would be better than the Citibank thing?

I am entranced by Barb's postal account and wish I'd known about its validity before I signed on with a bank. They can charge you +- 1000 euros to leave a bank!
My cheapest route has been to write myself checks. There is a woman at my bank who has alerted the tellers to call her when I make a deposit, at which time she looks out all the possible ways to convert and gets me the cheapest that day. It has cost me as little as 9 euros to transfer, and I always transfer several thousand $ at a time to save money.
I pay San Paolo 120 euro a year and then they don't nickel and dime me with charges. I have an investment account with them in money and credit and government issues for sums over 1700 euro, because otherwise I get no interest. The transfers are automatic and free.
If anyone was ever in the military or foreign service or married to someone who was, or is the child of someone who was, look into USAA bank. It is by far the easiest to deal with, because they were set up to help people who move around and need help when overseas. They will also write insurance policies, cost the same, but give you US type coverage.
My ATM withdrawals are free, so I use that for ordinary cash, but the US ATM won't work at shops. I use the San Paolo one for shops and have the bank pay all the bills and canone.

quote:

Originally posted by Jane and Ken:
Barbara, how do you get money into your Italian bank account? How much do you lose in the transfers, etc? How hard is it to get an Italian credit card and would it be profitable to do for just a year? I think the questions are just starting!

For deposits to our Italian accts we simply make cash withdrawls at the bankomat then deposit the cash! We withdrew some money on Friday and our rate was $1.2234, and we are never charged a fee.

Initially we had the acct with Cassa di Risparmio id Firenze because that's where our friend Wendy had her acct. She knew the manager and he set up the acct for us (edited for content)

Because the closest branch was so far away, we eventually decided to close the acct. The manager gave us a break on the charge and offered us an Italian MC if we kept the acct open. Because the PostalBank had turned us down for a CC (due to being unable to verify our income!) we accepted these terms. The card costs us €5 per year. We pay €3 per month service charge for the acct. this acct pays no interest, while the PostalBank does pay minimal interest.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cristina,

Thanks Barb! Did all this become more clear to you once there or did you understand it all before going? Since we are only going for a year, I am not sure what will be the best thing for us to do. Maybe have our money go into a friends account and then let him write any checks for us. What is a postal account?