10% cashback on purchases in shops, bars, supermarkets and restaurants, if you pay by card. It’s all part of Italy’s efforts to stamp out tax evasion. Cashback 10% starts on 1st January 2021 and resident adults can earn up to a maximum of €300. Between 8th December 2020 and 31st January 2021 Extra Christmas Cashback will launch the incentives. Every adult member of a family can take part in the electronic payments incentives. You will be entered into a competition too with cash prizes. Read on to find out more …
Anyone aged 18 and over and officially resident in Italy can qualify for Cashback bonuses.
You can earn a 10% refund on all purchases made, starting January 1st 2021, in participating shops, bars, restaurants, supermarkets, provided you pay with a card or a payment app. There is no minimum spend on each purchase but you must make a minimum of 50 electronic payment purchases in each six month period. The maximum cashback amount you can receive is €300 per year, €150 in each six month period. But note, online purchases are excluded, as are necessary business and professional purchases, telephone topups made at bank cash machines and transactions relating to recurring payments.
Every family member can participate, a couple can earn €300 each in 2021.
To launch this Cashless Italia incentive a trial period is due to begin on 8th December 2020, it was supposed to be 1st December, but didn’t happen then. From 8th December to 31st December you can earn up to €150, that is 10% of €1500 spending paid for by electronic means. You need to be registered so don’t waste time.
From 1st January 2021 and 30th June 2022, everyone can compete for Super Cashback. The first 100,000 people who total the highest number of card and payment app transactions will be entitled to a payment of €1,500 in each six month period. It’s the number of electronic transactions that count, not the amount you spend. So lots of small transactions will help you compete for the prizes.
You have to be in it to win/earn it! Before you can register for Cashback incentives you need to have a SPID (Service Profile Identifier) or a digital identity card. A SPID is becoming used more and more as a way of verifying identity and getting access to services and information. More about that in another post coming soon. We used InfoCert to obtain the SPID and found the process relatively easy. You can find a list of SPID providers here – https://spid.gov.it/richiedi-spid.
Armed with your SPID you can then download the IO app from either Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. You will need your Codice Fiscale (Italian tax code) and an OTP (one time password) generated from your SPID account when you register the app.
After you have registered on the IO app and accessed it, in the App go to the wallet and add a Payment method using one or more debit and credit cards and add PagoBancomat. Today you cannot add Bancomat Pay card or Google Pay and Apple Pay apps. These are supposed to be available from January along with other card providers and apps that become part of the scheme.
In the Wallet, you will also be able to add Bonuses and Discounts. Click on the + ADD and you will see Cashback flagged as incoming. This is where you can join the Cashback initiative. As of today, it is “Cashback is coming soon”, when it arrives you will be able to register. Make sure you add the IBAN of the account where you want your Cashback bonuses to be credited. In order to receive the Christmas Extra Cashback, you must be sure to add your IBAN before the end of December.
The catch for consumers ….. how many shops and other businesses will be set up with a card device and payment app that will work with the scheme? Check before you spend as your transactions may not count towards the minimum necessary.