No stamp duty to pay and zero expenses for the weakest social groups. But also ATM withdrawals and credit card payments without any limits. This is the sketch of the "basic account" arriving in Italian banks. The new instrument was envisaged by the Salva-Italia maneuver and was born today from an agreement between the Ministry of the Economy, Bank of Italy, ABI, the Post Office and consumer and pensioner associations. The goal is to reduce current account costs for people with low to medium incomes. The problem arose after the government lowered the maximum threshold for the use of cash to one thousand euros, forcing many people to open an account.
The new possibility – which according to the estimates disclosed during the presentation could be exploited by 850 thousand retirees without current account and postal account – it is also intended for those who are already customers of a bank or the post office, but be careful of the numbers. Free admission is not for everyone: there are distinctions based on income. In detail, the "Basic account" is divided into two types. Here they are:
TYPE A
The bill is totally free for families with Isee under 7.500 euros (but every year by March XNUMXst it will be necessary to present a self-certification certifying that you are not the holder of another basic account), while it provides for a "all-inclusive and reasonable" annual fee for those exceeding this threshold. In any case, you are entitled to unlimited ATM withdrawals from the institution where you opened the account, no ceiling for debit card payments, 6 withdrawals at the counter, 12 free ATM withdrawals from institutions other than your own, 12 recurring payments via bank transfer with debit on account and 36 bank transfers received (including salary and pension credits) by national bank transfer or Sepa (ie in euro area countries).
TYPE B
The second type concerns pensioners who receive up to 1.500 euros per month. Those of them who do not fall within the Isee threshold of 7.500 euros can request the opening of a basic account which - after paying the stamp duty - provides for free for a series of operations: 12 cash withdrawals at the counter, unlimited ATM withdrawals at the bank where the account was opened, payments without any ceiling if made by debit card or received by national transfer or Sepa.
CRICKETS: AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST CASH
The Deputy Economy Minister, Vittorio Grilli, underlined how the government "now has the tools" to combat the fight against cash, the excessive use of which in Italy creates tax evasion problems and assigns the country the primacy of robberies, as well as generating costs for the banking system and citizens. Grilli recalled how "the common and identical characteristics" have now been established for the basic accounts offered by banks and the Post Office, which will be supervised by an Observatory. Each year the Parliament will receive a report on the progress of the initiative.
