IsyBank — Conto isySmart
A plan by IsyBank — Conto · Mastercard/Visa (+ BANCOMAT)
Data verified on unchanged since the sources
Worth it if you want a fully-app Italian account at €0 with a free digital card and free SEPA/instant transfers, and the FITD €100,000 guarantee of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group is enough.
Avoid it if you want a physical card and free withdrawals everywhere: on isyLight the physical card costs €12 and other-bank withdrawals €1.10, waived only with isyPrime at €9.90/month.
IsyBank is the fully-app digital bank of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. The base isyLight plan has a €0 fee, a free digital Mastercard/Visa debit card and zero-cost SEPA and instant transfers. Above it sit isySmart (€3.90/month, physical card included) and isyPrime (€9.90/month, free worldwide withdrawals and no FX fee). Italian IBAN and FITD €100,000 deposit guarantee.
isySmart
- Price
- €4
What's included
- Physical card included
- Enhanced everyday banking
Data & conditions
| Account fee | Free |
|---|---|
| IBAN | dedicato · IT · IT |
| Deposit guarantee | EU guarantee €100,000 |
| Multi-currency | No (single currency) |
| Outbound transfers to third-party IBANs | Yes |
| Utility direct billing | Yes |
| SEPA direct debit (SDD) | Yes |
| On-chain crypto withdrawal | No |
| SEPA transfer | Free |
| Card included | Carta di debito digitale Mastercard/Visa gratis (fisica €12 una tantum su isyLight) |
| Interest on balance | 0% |
| Network | Mastercard/Visa (+ BANCOMAT) |
| ATM withdrawal | Free |
| Free ATM limit | Intesa Sanpaolo Group ATMs €0; other SEPA-area bank €1.10 (free worldwide on isyPrime) |
| Fund custody | Custodial (platform holds funds) |
| KYC | Full |
| Supported countries | EEA · 1+ countries |
| Regulator | Banca d'Italia |
| Segment | B2C |
| Funding / solidity | Digital bank of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group · launched 2023 · Italian IBAN |
| MiCA / License status | Licenza bancaria (Albo Banche n. 5692) IT banking licence (Bank of Italy) |
Strengths
- Base isyLight plan at €0 fee with a free digital Mastercard/Visa card
- Unlimited SEPA and instant transfers at €0
- Italian IBAN from the Intesa Sanpaolo Group with FITD €100,000 deposit guarantee
- isyPrime: free worldwide withdrawals, no FX fee, stamp duty paid by the bank for under-35s
- No notable sovereignty advantage documented.
Weaknesses
- On isyLight the physical card is paid (€12 one-off) and SDD direct debits cost €0.80
- Withdrawals at other SEPA-area banks €1.10 (free only on isyPrime)
- App-only and (on isyLight) single-holder account only; no own branches
- Reputation marked by the forced 2023 migration of Intesa customers
- Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
- Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
- Subject to regulation (IT banking licence (Bank of Italy)): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
- FATF-aligned jurisdiction: strong cooperation with authorities.
- Closed source: no way to verify what it does with wallet and data.
Verdict
isyLight is a solid zero-fee account on the protection front: an Intesa Sanpaolo Group bank supervised by the Bank of Italy, FITD €100,000 deposit guarantee, free digital card and SEPA/instant transfers at €0. The blemishes are the small accessory costs of the base plan (physical card €12, SDD €0.80, other-bank withdrawals €1.10), the app-only experience and the reputation marked by the forced 2023 migration. Those wanting everything free worldwide must move up to isyPrime.
Supervised bank account: custodial, full KYC, censorable and freezable by court order or AML obligation. The FITD deposit guarantee and Bank of Italy supervision — strengths for protection — are exactly what distance it from the trustless model. No self-custody, no permissionless use.
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 IsyBank — Conto, 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
The accounts of some 2.4 million customers arrived here from Intesa Sanpaolo through profiling that the Italian data protection authority declared to lack an adequate legal basis: a EUR 17.6 million fine on the parent company (decision no. 163 of 12 March 2026), now under a pending court challenge
Between 2023 and 2024 Intesa Sanpaolo selected which customers to move to its wholly owned subsidiary Isybank by combining preset criteria: age no higher than 65, regular use of digital channels over the past year, no investment products and financial resources below a given threshold. The Italian data protection authority (Garante) established that this profiling was carried out without an adequate legal basis and that customers could not reasonably have expected it: the notices were mostly filed in the archive section of the Intesa Sanpaolo app, in the middle of the summer holidays, with no prominent alert (push notification or SMS) signalling what was at stake. The move meant a unilateral change of contract: a new IBAN and digital-only banking, with no branch access. The proceeding began with numerous complaints from account holders. By decision no. 163 of 12 March 2026 the Garante fined Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. EUR 17,628,000. Isybank S.p.A., the subsidiary that received the accounts, was not separately sanctioned. The decision has been temporarily removed from the authority's website under art. 5 of legislative decree 150/2011 because the challenge against it is pending before the courts. The distinction matters: the fine is not final, but the unlawfulness of the processing was established by the authority.
↗ source
verified on
Public reviews
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App Store ↗
4.6/5
31,483 reviews
'isybank' app (seller Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.), IT store; here the app is the product itself (digital account). Exact mean 4.55665 from the iTunes lookup.
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Google Play ↗
4.1/5
12,160 reviews
isybank app on Google Play (com.intesasanpaolo.isybank.mobile), IT storefront; exact count and rating from JSON-LD (4.1254); developer Intesa Sanpaolo SPA. The app is the product itself.
Weighted average across 2 public review platforms (43,643 reviews in total), weighted by volume. This is not our rating: it is those platforms’ average.
FAQ
Is the isyLight account really free?
The isyLight fee is €0; you only pay the state stamp duty (€34.20/year, not due with average balance ≤ €5,000). Digital card and SEPA/instant transfers are €0; the physical card costs €12 one-off.
Who is behind IsyBank?
IsyBank is an Italian bank (Bank Register no. 5692) of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, supervised by the Bank of Italy; deposits are guaranteed by the FITD up to €100,000.
Sources
- Official service page Canone · Carta · Prelievi · Bonifici · +1 Data verified on Jul 12, 2026