Before you start

Codice fiscale
Passport or ID, plus permesso di soggiorno or its receipt for non-EU nationals
Proof of address — a registered lease is cleanest
Proof of income, or a student enrolment certificate

Step-by-step

1
Open a digital account for the IBAN in week one
Rent, utilities, salary and scholarship payments all want an Italian IBAN. Digital banks accept a codice fiscale and video identification and issue one in days.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
2
Ask about student and under-30 accounts
Most Italian banks waive fees for students and under-30s, and Bologna's branches around Via Zamboni handle the paperwork routinely. Ask rather than accepting the standard tariff.
In personWho: You
3
Get reclassified as resident once the comune registers you
Accounts opened before residence registration are often non-resident accounts with higher charges. Banks do not revisit the classification on their own.
In personWho: You
4
Set up SPID or the CIE identity immediately
In Bologna this matters more than in most Italian cities, because the comune's own services — residence, certificates, TARI, school enrolment — are built around it, as are the tax portal, INPS and the regional health booking system.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1–3
5
Arrange direct debits for utilities and TARI
Domiciliazione avoids paying by bollettino at a post office counter. Request it when signing each supply contract.
OnlineWho: You
6
Expect the annual account stamp duty
Italy charges an imposta di bollo on accounts above an average-balance threshold and on securities accounts. It is a tax, not a bank fee.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Codice fiscale
Passport or national ID
Permesso di soggiorno or postal receipt
Registered lease or certificate of residence
Employment contract, payslips or enrolment certificate

Things most newcomers don’t know

In Bologna, not having SPID costs you more time than in most Italian cities, because the comune has moved on.

Residence declarations, certificates, TARI, school enrolment, nursery applications and much of the tax and health business are all designed around SPID or the CIE here. The in-person fallbacks exist but are increasingly the exception path. People who arrive with a general expectation of Italian queueing and postpone the digital identity end up doing by appointment what residents do from a phone.

Source: Comune di Bologna; AgID

A registered contract is what unlocks residence, and Bologna's room market is where it most often goes missing.

Landlords must register a tenancy with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days, and the registration receipt is what the comune, the bank and the AUSL accept as proof of address. In a market dominated by rooms in shared flats, informal arrangements are common — and an unregistered contract leaves you unable to register residence, which blocks the health card, the licence clock and the bank reclassification. Ask for the receipt before paying a deposit.

Source: Agenzia delle Entrate

The non-resident account classification is invisible and expensive.

Banks open a conto non residenti for people who arrive before their address is registered and then never revisit it. It carries higher maintenance charges and restricts some products. Once the comune confirms your residence, go back and ask explicitly for the switch — nobody will offer it.

Source: community-reported

Italy caps cash payments between private parties by law, and student deposits routinely brush the ceiling.

Cash transfers above a statutory threshold between individuals are prohibited outright, with penalties for both sides. A landlord asking for a deposit plus several months' rent in notes — not unusual in a student room market — can push the total past the limit. Pay by transfer, which is also the evidence you will want if the deposit is later disputed. Check the current ceiling rather than relying on what you are told at the time.

Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance