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, salary and utilities all want an Italian IBAN. Digital banks accept a codice fiscale and video identification and issue one within days, faster than most branch appointments.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
2
Insist on being paid by transfer, not in cash
Italian law requires salaries to be paid by traceable means rather than cash. A bank record of regular salary is the evidence you will need at a permit renewal, for a family reunification, or for any credit application.
Via employerWho: You
3
Pay rent by transfer with a clear reference
A standing order referencing the registered contract creates a record of both payment and address. It is the evidence that decides a deposit dispute, and it costs nothing to set up.
OnlineWho: You
4
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, and banks do not revisit the classification on their own.
In personWho: You
5
Set up SPID or the CIE identity
SPID is the login to the Italian state — the tax portal, INPS, the Ligurian health booking system, the comune's services and the public payment app. The CIE electronic identity card does the same job.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 2–4
6
If you are paid in a foreign currency, plan for it before the first payday
Seafaring and shipping contracts are frequently in dollars. A high-street conversion at branch rates is expensive; a multi-currency account or a specialist provider is usually much cheaper, and it is worth setting up before the money arrives rather than after.
Mobile appWho: 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

Maritime pay is a foreign-currency problem that ordinary branch banking handles badly.

Genoa's largest employment cluster is shipping, and a meaningful share of contracts — seagoing roles especially — pay in dollars. Converting at a high-street bank's own rate is one of the more expensive things you can do repeatedly, because the cost sits in the spread rather than the fee. A multi-currency account or a specialist provider, arranged before the first payment lands, will typically save more over a year than every other banking decision put together.

Source: community-reported

Paying salary in cash is unlawful in Italy, and the record matters more to you than to your employer.

Employers must pay wages by traceable means rather than in cash. For a non-EU worker the bank record is also the evidence of lawful income at a permit renewal, and for anyone the absence of a payslip history closes off mortgages, family reunification and most tenancy applications.

Source: Ministry of Labour

Italy caps cash payments between private parties, and both sides are penalised.

Cash transfers above a statutory ceiling between individuals are prohibited outright, with penalties for the payer as well as the recipient, and the ceiling has moved several times in recent years. It catches deposits, used-car purchases and builders' invoices, and being the foreigner in the transaction is not a defence.

Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance

The non-resident account classification is invisible and expensive.

Banks open a conto non residenti for people who arrive before their address is registered, then leave it in place. It carries higher maintenance charges, restricts some products, and there is no automatic review. Once the comune confirms residence, ask the branch explicitly for the switch.

Source: community-reported