How To Pay With a Bolletino Postale
One of my first panic attacks came when I had to go pay the registration fee for my school at the post office. Knowing very little Italian I tried to explain that I needed to pay for school. The lady behind the counter handed me a blank bolletino postale and expected me to know what to do. I stared at this piece of paper and realized I hadn't a clue. She finally offered to help but very begrudgingly and I paid. So to help you to avoid this situation, I have the steps listed below.
First, you need to ask for a bolletino postale vuoto. They will give you a piece of paper that is 11.75 inches in length and 4 inches in height. It looks like the picture below.
There are two sections. Section 1 is the part they will give back to you and you will need to keep this as your receipt. Section 2 is what they keep.
Section 1:
- Here you need to put in the account number to where you are paying.
- The amount in euro that you are paying. Remember, a comma in Italy is a decimal for those in the US.
- Here you need to put in the correct name including any initials after it. You should write in all capital letters.
- Here you put in your name, address and codice fiscale if they ask for it.
- This is where you put in the reason for the payment.
- This area is where the post office will put their stamp with amount paid, fee paid and date.
Section 2:
- Account number as in section 1
- Amount in Euro
- Pay to the order of as in section 1.
- The reason for the payment
- Your full name
- Your street address
- Your zip code
- Your city or town
Luckily, many times when you have to pay a bill (phone, electric, gas, TV, etc.), they send you a completed bolletino postale so all you will need to do is bring it to the post office and pay.