That’s the same as in the UK. I have heard they only keep that facility because our US cousins don’t use chip and pin, and we have to cater for them in retail outlets. It’s been said that if the magnetic strip was done away the incidence of card fraud would decrease dramatically.
Barclays did this to me repeatedly - over two years they left me stranded in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kathmandu and Pokhara - despite me telling them where I was going. And yet my Barclaycard still got duplicated and defrauded - in the UK.
I decided it was a false economy and closed down all my accounts with them. Have had zero problems with HSBC since I moved to them.
I’ve not been to Italy, but I’ve been to Canada and I wasn’t afraid to carry a few hundred dollars in Canadian money that I obtained from an ATM. I did find out that my American ATM card didn’t work at every Canadian ATM, so I had to scurry around a bit until I found that ScotiaBank would take it. My Washington Mutual Visa credit card worked great pretty much everywhere that took plastic at all.
BTW, congratulations on going to Cinque Terre. I have been there, but as you don’t see much from a railway tunnel that only opens to the outside at the stations I never had the opportunity to see what it looked like, but I understand it’s a very beautiful area.
I would second not paying for anything where your card is not in your sight all the time. Southern Europe is the chief culprit of card duplication. Otherwise cash/card mix is what I do.
I’d prefer credit cards to ATM’s for the precise reason that if someone steals your credit card number and runs up a bunch of charges, so long as you’re reasonably diligent, you won’t have to pay for them. I’m less confident about what would happen if someone duplicates your ATM.
Anyway, it’s been over a decade, but I spent a summer in Florence (with a bit of time in Rome) and I had no problems, except that the bank did indeed deactivate a card even though i told them we’d be over there. Best to take along a couple cards from differnt issuers (or better yet, a few friends) so you won’t get stuck washing dishes if that happens.
–Cliffy
And on the flipside, my ScotiaBank ATM card would not work anywhere in the US, so it was Mr. Visa paying the bills.
… and just squander the rest.
The problem I had with credit cards over there was that many shops wouldn’t take them. They wouldn’t say that explicitly, but I often heard “Oh. Sorry. The machine is broken.” I think they prefer you pay cash. But in our case, it meant we often spent far less or nothing at all in the store.
We used ATM’s to get cash for the day.
We usually use ATMs. We’ve never been the victims of pickpocketing or any other crime in Italy. When we have needed to use a credit or debit card, we’ve always been able to do so. These are UK cards.
By the way, Cinque Terre is among the most beautiful walks I’ve ever done. If you have the time - a whole day from early in the morning to beat the heat - and physical ability, take the train to one of the end villages and walk all the way along the coast to the other end. It’s medium-challenging walking in some places, with some steep steps among other things, but it’s breathtaking. We started at Riomaggiore, and by the time we got to Monterrosso al Mare all we could do was throw off our clothes and jump straight into the sea! If your walking isn’t up to that, the train will take you along to all the villages. You can buy one day ticket to get on and off as many times as you like. I do recommend walking at least one section though. From memory, I think the first section was the easiest; and not just because we did it first!. It was the flattest and most regular path. Anyway, when you’re finished, eat a gelato. Second (third, whatever) the recommendation that the best way to spend money in Italy is on food.
The computer links to the banks do regularly go down in Italy for no apparent reason.
It’s not outer space or the edge of civilisation out here. Whatever you’d use at home, with the same precautions, and er…maybe a bit more of them. 
Divertitevi!
Yeah, that’s right - The Via dell’Amore. It’s an absolutely beautiful walk. We actually started in Monterosso al-Mare and took the train from town to town to Manarola. We then walked the Via dell’Amore from Manarola to Riomaggiore. By that time, it was sunset and it was absolutely beautiful.