Need Italian Speaker's help interrupting message from Rental Car Company--updated decision

Sending VISA info via email isn't safe.

How is it not safe? Your liability if there is fraud is not more than $50, and for all practical purposes nil. Now whether this agency will accept a Visa card for the initial deposit is another question. If they do (surprised if they did not), send the card number in 2 portions in separate emails if you are worried.

Reading your previous travails, I can understand if you are a bit wary. But this is a very low risk operation. If you do want to send a money transfer, google "Transferwise". Heard on this forum it is a low cost way to wire funds.

PS, looks like they sent you a google translate version of the Italian language text in the second part.

Agree with Sam above.

I've used Transferwise, it's awesomely great. If you need to send money as an international bank transfer (aka "wire money" to a bank account) this is hands-down the cheapest and easiest way to do that.

See if they will accept the deposit on a credit card (use Google translate to compose your email - as you can see above, it's not perfect, but if you keep your correspondence short, direct, and simple, they should understand what you're saying). If so, of course use a credit card that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee. The suggestion above to send half your credit card info in one email and the other in a second email may improve security slightly (at least it might make you feel a little better). You're right that email is generally not secure (especially if you use a free email client like gmail, yahoo, etc. - notoriously un-secure and frequently hacked) but as Sam correctly points out, your liability is quite limited.

You're going to want to understand the insurance bits...car insurance for Italy is a little more complicated than many places. Just be sure you know what you're getting, how much it's going to cost you, and how much you'l be exposed for beyond the insurance.

I've sent my CC info for deposits and final payments for gites several times with no problem. I didn't like that but watched the charges on my CC on a daily basis for a while and had no problems.

Perhaps Walter is referring to this by his mention of "postpay"

https://www.multisafepay.com/solutions/payment-methods/postepay/

Thank you everyone. I will contact Walter about bank card payment. I have done multiple email Visa payments in the past. After last year’s fiasco I’m very gun shy.

Well, I'm glad you got the nerve up again to give it another try!

Poste Pay is like a credit card by the post office, it's not linked to the company's bank account and funds. It's a way to cheat on taxes. I wouldn't trust this company.

it's not linked to the company's bank account and funds. It's a way to cheat on taxes

The Italian government tracks deposits/ withdrawals of everyone's saving and checking accounts?

The US government doesn't intercepts all phone calls, but drug dealers use burner phones anyway.

If you want to pay less taxes, you declare less incomes. The first step to do it is not receiving money on the company's bank account whose reports are used for profit and loss.

Reputable companies don't ask customers to transfer money on a PostePay card. Everybody knows who uses those cards: kids, people that can't pay the costs of a real checking account and tax cheaters.

Thanks Dario. I appreciate your explanation of Post Pay. I told the company we can’t use that in the US and will need to use Visa.
I think i’m stuck with this company. Autoeurope, Hertz and Avis do not rent out of Paola. Google lists two other rental company. One doesn’t have a website or email. The other rents vans/cars with drivers only. Paola is a small town and we’re driving to even smaller towns.
Renting elsewhere isn’t an option. I don’t want to attempt driving in Naples. I’m not that brave. Salerno doesn’t work time wise. Hertz closes early on Sunday. We would have to cut our time short in Calabria. Otherwise we Have problems getting to Venice on Monday.

What about Naples airport? I bet there are rental agencies open on Sundays at the airport and it's far from Naples center.

Dario, I looked at Naples Airport and the rental companies are open Sunday. I just don’t know if I’m brave enough at 68 to drive in traffic and I hear there are toll roads. Am I worrying too much about driving in Naples? Everything about renting a car looks better through the Hertz or Avis rental sites.

My thinking was that we can return the car in Paola around 15:00 Sunday or close to the train time (that was one of my first questions to Walter), take the train to Naples, stay overnight, then Monday morning either take the train or fly to Venice (that’ll be another post question later) which are both 9-ish.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.
Kathy

Just to let y’all know that after talking to my sister-in-law and considering Dario’s advise, we decided to rent a car at the Naples airport. The thought of driving in Naples, even the outskirts, and on toll roads is changing from terrifying to worrisome. It’s at the end of our tour so we should have have a feel for Italian roads by then. This will give SIL the most time to research her family which is important. She’s excited about that and engaged in the planning.
Thank you Dario and everyone else for you help and advise.

That sounds like a good decision, Kathy.