Opening Euro Account in Italy for non-resident

jinkster

I travel to Italy quite a bit and interested in a Euro account. Is it possible to open a bank account in Italy without being a resident or have an address?

RetiredInThailand

I suspect that they wont want to know if you dont have an address there.

You could open a Euro account with an offshore bank that issues a Euro debit card.

savagej

I know you can open a Euro or a Swiss Franc account with Swiss Post and you get a Maestro card to go with it and a prepaid Mastercard or a standard Mastercard if you can prove your income.

jinkster

SavageJ,

Do Swiss Post Bank require a minimum fund deposit per month?

RetiredinThailand,

Regarding offshore accounts? I was just looking for an account where I didn't get fleeced drawing money out abroad with UK account. I would be happy keeping Euros in my account for when required.

Thanks for the replies.

NFH

Open an account with DKB (Germany) or Citibank (UK). The latter is not suitable if you wish to make SEPA payments, i.e. to send a bank transfer to a third party's account.

RetiredInThailand

jinkster wrote: »

SavageJ,
Regarding offshore accounts? I was just looking for an account where I didn't get fleeced drawing money out abroad with UK account. I would be happy keeping Euros in my account for when required.

As I mentioned, just look for an offshore UK bank/Bsoc which does Euro accounts and supplies a free debit card (in Euros) to go with it. Several do.

Using the card you will be able to pay for items in Euros without any fee at all, or make withdrawals in Euros from ATMs for a variable fee depending on the bank/branch.

Either way you wont be paying any weighting for foreign exchange, and you should get some interest (1 or 2%).

Another option is the German bank mentioned, but as I dont speak any German I cant really comment on it. If it provides a free debit card also then that would be fine for your needs. If it doesn't have a card then you may have trouble (expense) getting your cash out.

RetiredInThailand

NFH wrote: »

Open an account with DKB (Germany) or Citibank (UK).

Citibank dont seem to pay any interest at all on a Euro account, which is pretty poor.

It should be possible to get 1 or 2% elsewhere on a similar account, without paying any fees.

NFH

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

Citibank dont seem to pay any interest at all on a Euro account, which is pretty poor.

It should be possible to get 1 or 2% elsewhere on a similar account, without paying any fees.

Indeed. DKB, my first suggestion, pays 2.05%. The only hurdle is that you need to speak German.

jinkster

Just found an AMEX card that has no fees and will work in Euroland without commission.

NFH

jinkster wrote: »

Just found an AMEX card that has no fees and will work in Euroland without commission.

Is that the International Euro Basic Card? It's the ugliest Amex card I've ever seen and it doesn't give anything back to the cardholder for the higher interchange fees that Amex charges to merchants (e.g. Membership Rewards).

savagej

Hi JInkster

Sorry, I don't know about the minimum funding I don't think there is one mind you. Their website can be read in a number of languages including english. So i would take a look there.

James