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 for the better-priced account tiers

Step-by-step

1
Open a digital account for the IBAN in week one
Rent, utilities and salary all want an Italian IBAN. Digital banks accept a codice fiscale and video identification and issue one within days.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
2
Ask your employer which bank they use
Large Turinese employers often have arrangements with a particular bank covering account fees, mortgages and staff terms. Asking before you open one avoids opening two.
Via employerWho: You
3
Get reclassified as resident once the comune registers you
Accounts opened before residence registration are often non-resident accounts with higher charges and product restrictions. Banks do not revisit the classification on their own.
In personWho: You
4
Set up SPID or the CIE identity
SPID is the login to the Italian state — the tax portal, INPS, the Piedmontese health booking system, the comune's services and the public payment app. The CIE electronic identity card from the comune does the same job.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 2–4
5
Arrange direct debits for utilities and TARI
Domiciliazione avoids paying by bollettino at a post office. Ask for 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 or recent payslips

Things most newcomers don’t know

Turin's large employers frequently have banking arrangements that are worth more than the headline account fee.

Stellantis, the aerospace primes, Intesa itself and the university all have staff arrangements with particular banks covering fee waivers, preferential mortgage terms and sometimes fast-track account opening for foreign hires. It is rarely mentioned in onboarding and almost always available on request. Asking HR before you open an account at random is five minutes well spent.

Source: community-reported

SPID converts most Italian bureaucracy from a queue into a five-minute task.

The Agenzia delle Entrate portal, INPS, the Piedmontese health booking system, the comune's certificates and the public payment app all sit behind SPID or the CIE. Every one has an in-person alternative and every alternative is a counter with a ticket machine. Setting it up in month one is the highest-return administrative act available to a newcomer in Italy.

Source: AgID — Agency for Digital Italy

A registered lease is what makes residence, banking and health cover possible.

Landlords must register a tenancy with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days, and the registration receipt is what the anagrafe, the bank and the ASL accept as proof of address. An unregistered lease leaves you unable to register residence at all, which blocks the health card, the licence conversion clock and the bank reclassification. Ask for the registration receipt as a condition of paying the deposit.

Source: Agenzia delle Entrate

Italy caps cash payments between private parties by law, and the ceiling has moved repeatedly.

Cash transfers above a statutory threshold between individuals are prohibited outright, with penalties for both payer and payee. It catches deposits, used-car purchases and tradesmen's invoices — exactly the transactions where cash gets suggested. Check the limit in force before any large payment rather than relying on what you are told at the time.

Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance