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Banca d’Italia supervises Italian banks, and the ECB oversees the significant groups directly, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Banco BPM, BPER Banca and Monte dei Paschi di Siena among them. Deposit protection is split in two. Every Italian bank except the cooperative credit banks belongs to the Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD), which repays deposits up to EUR 100,000 per depositor and per bank within seven working days of a compulsory administrative liquidation taking effect, and which states that its guarantee extends to legal persons. The banche di credito cooperativo and casse rurali belong to the Fondo di Garanzia dei Depositanti del Credito Cooperativo (FGD), with the same limit; its FAQ excludes deposits of banks, investment firms, insurers, investment funds, pension funds and public bodies.
Article 2464 of the Civil Code, in force in this form since 23 August 2013, requires at least a quarter of the cash contributions and the whole share premium to be paid at signing to the administrative body named in the deed, or the full amount for a single-member company, with the means of payment stated in the deed. An insurance policy or bank guarantee may stand in for that payment. A capital below EUR 10,000, down to EUR 1, is allowed if the contributions are in cash and paid in full to the directors (article 2463). The SpA is different: a quarter of its cash contributions must be paid in at a bank (article 2342). A foreign-owned Srl can therefore be incorporated before any Italian bank has accepted its owners.
Every shareholder and director of an Srl needs an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale, for the Registro delle Imprese, so obtain it before you approach a bank. For a non-EU national living outside Italy without an Italian residence permit, the registry also checks reciprocity, accepting the appointment only where that person’s country grants Italians the same right. The Registro dei titolari effettivi, meanwhile, is suspended pending the Consiglio di Stato, whose first hearing is listed for May 2027, so no one can search it. The ownership evidence a bank needs therefore has to come from the company and its shareholders.
| Provider | Route | What its own pages say |
|---|---|---|
| Banca Sella | Online, for companies | A smartphone, an optional webcam computer, two identity documents chosen from identity card, passport, driving licence and the Italian health card (tessera sanitaria), and for a capital company the atto costitutivo, statuto and visura camerale, with an optional document on signing powers |
| Intesa Sanpaolo | Not stated | Business account ranges such as Conto BusinessInsieme, with no eligibility rules for companies owned from abroad on the pages checked |
| UniCredit | Not stated | The Imprendo business account catalogue, again with no published rule for owners abroad |
Banca Sella’s business platform also handles signing powers, such as joint signatures and personalised profiles for staff. With the two largest groups, ask about owners abroad before you plan around a particular bank.
An Italian IBAN has 27 characters: IT, two check digits, a check letter (CIN), the five-digit ABI bank code, the five-digit CAB branch code and a twelve-character account number. Italy is in SEPA.
A ready-made Italian Srl that already holds an account keeps it as its own after the quotas are sold. The change sits with the bank, which must get to know the new quotaholders, the amministratore and every signatory, and may then continue, ask for more or close the account; we can neither promise nor rule out the account staying open. A new Srl pays its capital to the directors named in the deed, so the bank comes afterwards. We can provide a ready-made Srl or incorporate a new one, help you prepare what the bank will ask for, and put you in touch with a suitable bank where a working contact of ours sits; the bank makes the call. See the shelf company with bank account guide and the Italy hub.
Yes, Italian law has no residence requirement for an Srl’s shareholders or directors, but each needs a codice fiscale, and a non-EU national living abroad without an Italian permit faces the reciprocity check. Banca Sella opens company accounts online against two identity documents from its list and the company deeds; the largest groups publish no rules for owners abroad, so ask them first.
No. Article 2464 of the Civil Code has the cash contributions paid to the directors named in the deed, at least a quarter of them at signing or all of them for a single-member company, and a policy or bank guarantee can replace that payment. Only the SpA must pay a quarter of its cash contributions in at a bank before it is formed.
You can buy an Srl that holds an account, and the account stays with the company, but the bank will review the new quotaholders and directors and decide whether to keep the relationship. Treat an existing account as a possibility to confirm with that bank before you buy, not as part of what you are buying.
Yes. The FITD repays up to EUR 100,000 per depositor and per bank and says its guarantee extends to legal persons; cooperative credit banks belong to the FGD, which applies the same limit. Deposits of banks, investment firms, insurers, investment and pension funds and public bodies are excluded, and repayment is due within seven working days of the bank’s liquidation.