Getting an Italian Bank Account

It seems as if everything in Italy takes longer than you would expect.  Seriously everything.  It took us three attempts to open a bank account.  I remember when we first moved to Philadelphia is 2009 and we needed a local bank account we walked right in and within 20 minutes had a new checking account set up.  That was not the case this time.

The first time we went, we showed up at 4:30 and the bank was closed.  It closed at 4:15.  Why a bank closes at 4:15 is beyond me.  Also, keep in mind that they were closed from 12 to 1:30 for lunch.

So we take another attempt the next day.  We arrive right at 1:30 when they are opening back up.  Unlucky for us, someone had arrived just minutes before us and there as only one lady there setting up new bank accounts this day.  She told us she would not have time to set up both of our accounts and that we would have to come back the next day.  After a fairly heated exchange between Joseph and the banker we set up an appointment for the next day and left the bank again without success.

The third day we arrived right on time for our appointment.  We were greeted and the process began.  About an hour into everything, Jasper was starting to get bored and therefore a little bit fussy.  So I took him out in to the hall for walk for a few minutes.  After a few minutes Joseph called me back in, because he needed my signature.  What neither he nor I realized was that they didn't just need one signature, they needed close to 30 signatures and several additional initials on probably 100 pages of paper.  Hard copy paper.  This paper then got put into a very large red folder, and stored I presume in the worlds largest filing room.

The whole thing took close to two hours.  We weren't doing anything complicated.  We were just setting up a checking account, so that we can pay our rent.  I still can't believe how involved the whole process was.  It made sense after we left why she could only see one person the day before.  She would never have had time to do both of the accounts.

In the end we were successful.  We now have an Italian checking account.  Although I have no idea how to use it.  It is of course nowhere near as straight forward as you would think.