Postepay Standard Postepay Standard
A plan byPostepay Standard · Visa
Postepay Standard is the most widely used rechargeable prepaid card in Italy, issued by PostePay S.p.A. (Poste Italiane group) on the Visa/Visa Electron network. It is registered e-money without an IBAN: you spend and withdraw within the loaded balance, but you cannot receive transfers or set up direct debits. €0 annual fee, but every top-up costs (€1 via another Postepay/at the counter, €2 via a card from other networks) and the issuance fee rose to €20 from 12/01/2026. The FX fee is 1.10% on foreign-currency spending. Like every prepaid card it is e-money: funds are NOT covered by the FITD deposit-guarantee scheme (no protection up to €100,000), but are safeguarded at the e-money institution supervised by the Bank of Italy.
Postepay Standard
- Price
- Free
What's included
- Visa/Visa Electron network, contactless and mobile payments
- €20 issuance fee (from 12/01/2026) · €0 annual fee
- Top-up €1 (Postepay/post office) or €2 (other-network card) · €4,000 plafond
- €1 withdrawal at Postamat ATMs · 1.10% FX · no IBAN
Data & conditions
| Network | Visa |
|---|---|
| Fund custody | Custodial (platform holds funds) |
| Issuance fee | €20 |
| Annual fee | Free |
| Free ATM limit | €1 at Postamat ATMs; €1.75 for euro withdrawals at Visa/Visa Electron ATMs in Italy and abroad |
| ATM withdrawal | Free |
| FX markup | 1.1% |
| Cashback | Not disclosed |
| Contactless | Yes |
| Virtual card | No |
| KYC | Full |
| Privacy | 2/10 |
| Supported countries | EEA · 1+ countries |
| Funding / solidity | PostePay S.p.A. (Patrimonio destinato IMEL), gruppo Poste Italiane · la prepagata più diffusa in Italia |
| Regulator | Banca d'Italia |
| Segment | B2C |
| Funding / solidity | PostePay S.p.A. (ring-fenced EMI capital), Poste Italiane group · Italy's most widely used prepaid card |
| MiCA / License status | Istituto di Moneta Elettronica (IMEL) — Albo IMEL Banca d'Italia n. 19 E-money on an Italian EMI licence (Bank of Italy) |
Strengths
- €0 annual fee and ubiquitous acceptance: usable everywhere, managed from the Postepay app
- Spending capped by the loaded balance (€4,000 plafond), Visa/Visa Electron with contactless and mobile payments
- Low FX fee (1.10%) on foreign-currency spending
- No credit risk: you spend only what you loaded
- No notable sovereignty advantage documented.
Weaknesses
- No IBAN: no incoming/outgoing transfers, salary crediting or direct debits (you need the Evolution)
- Every top-up is charged (€1-€2) and the issuance fee rose to €20 from 12/01/2026
- E-money: funds NOT covered by the FITD scheme, no cashback or interest
- Paid withdrawals (€1 at Postamat ATMs, €1.75 in euro at Visa ATMs)
- Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
- Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
- Funds can be frozen at the platform’s discretion.
- Subject to regulation (E-money on an Italian EMI licence (Bank of Italy)): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
- FATF-aligned jurisdiction: strong cooperation with authorities.
Verdict
Postepay Standard is Italy's reference prepaid card for reach and simplicity, with a €0 fee and low FX cost (1.10%). Its downsides are concrete: no IBAN (no transfers or salary), every top-up charged and issuance fees doubled to €20 in 2026. Being e-money, there is no FITD cover: funds are protected only through safeguarding. Score 3.2: an honest, ubiquitous tool, but outclassed by free IBAN alternatives for anyone wanting to use it as an account.
Registered e-money prepaid card on a supervised e-money institution: custodial, full KYC, every operation tracked and the card blockable or suspendable by the issuer for AML or on court order. No anonymity, no permissionless use: on the sovereignty lens it is the opposite of a self-custody tool.
Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.
"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.
Reputation
What happened to people who used Postepay Standard, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.
Incidents & regulatory actions
Notable incidentsDocumented events with consequences still open. Each entry carries a source and a date.
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Regulatory action Severe ● open
Data protection authority: EUR 12.5 million for monitoring apps on customers' smartphones
Penalty on Poste Italiane and PostePay for using the ThreatMetrix anti-fraud tool, which detected the apps installed on customers' phones without an adequate legal basis. Violations found under Articles 5, 6, 13, 25, 28 and 35 GDPR, following 140 reports and 12 formal complaints. The decision is published in partially redacted form pending the opposition proceedings: the split of the amounts between the two companies comes from press reports, not from the official text.
↗ source -
Fine Moderate ✓ resolved
Antitrust: EUR 4 million over apps blocked for users refusing phone data access
The antitrust authority found it an unfair commercial practice that the BancoPosta and Postepay Android apps would lock if the user refused to grant access to smartphone data. A EUR 6 million base fine was reduced to EUR 4 million. Poste removed the blocking mechanism in February 2025.
↗ source
verified on
Public reviews
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App Store ↗
4.6/5
~
491,000 reviews
Rating of the unified «Poste Italiane» app on the Italian App Store: since 9 October 2025 the Postepay app's services have been merged into it. The score therefore covers the whole app, not the card. Trustpilot is not included: the page blocks automated reading and the figures in circulation are mutually inconsistent.
Weighted average across 1 public review platform (491,000 reviews in total), weighted by volume. This is not our rating: it is those platforms’ average.
FAQ
Does Postepay Standard have an IBAN?
No. The Standard has no IBAN: it cannot receive transfers, credit a salary or set up direct debits. For those functions you need the Postepay Evolution, which has an Italian IBAN.
How much does the Postepay Standard cost?
The annual fee is €0, but the issuance fee is €20 (from 12/01/2026, previously €10) charged on the minimum activation top-up. Each later top-up costs €1 (via Postepay/at the counter) or €2 (via a card from other networks).
Is the money on the Postepay guaranteed like on a bank account?
No. The Postepay is e-money, not a deposit account: it is not covered by the FITD deposit-guarantee scheme up to €100,000. Funds are, however, segregated and safeguarded by the e-money institution PostePay S.p.A., supervised by the Bank of Italy.
Sources
- Official service page Circuito Data verified on Jul 12, 2026
- poste.it Emissione · Canone · Ricarica · Prelievi Data verified on Jul 12, 2026