December Cash Back: pay with your card and get 10% back!

by Expats living in Rome

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The experimental phase of the Cashback program, the push to use credit and debit cards of the Cashless Plan by the government from 8 December until 31 December.

How many transactions to make to get a refund? To take advantage of the bonus, you will need to make at least 10 purchases by the end of December. The refund is equivalent to 10% of purchases made with a payment card or app, up to a maximum of € 150. For each transaction there is a maximum refund limit of € 15: this means that, even if you spend € 200 on a single receipt, you will still get a refund of € 15. It is forbidden to artificially split payments to increase transactions with the same merchant. Put simply, you won’t be able to split a purchase into multiple payments in the same store to stay below the € 150 threshold.

There is no minimum amount of expenditure, but at least 10 transactions are required without merchandise restrictions (for example, purchases in bars and restaurants, of groceries, clothes or household appliances are allowed). Payments made at physical points of sale or towards craftsmen and professionals (plumbers, electricians, doctors, lawyers) who are equipped with an electronic payment acceptance device, such as the Pos, which allows participation in the program, are counted. On the other hand, online purchases are excluded.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Make sure you have SPID (your digital identity) or, alternatively, the Electronic Identity Card (CIE 3.0) combined with the PIN you received at the time of issue. Download the IO App: after downloading and installing the application on your smartphone or tablet, you must log in using your SPID credentials or with your CIE combined with the PIN. You can also register for the Cashback Program through your bank, post office or other entities that issue cards and payment apps. When registering for Cashback, you must enter: the identification details of one or more credit cards, debit or prepaid cards (Amex, Bancomat, Diners, Maestro, Mastercard, PostePay, VISA, V-Pay) or activate the Cashback on your Satispay account.

HOW REFUNDS ARE PROVIDED

The refund will be credited by bank transfer by the end of February 2021, directly to the current account registered by the user. You will be able to indicate the coordinates of your account during registration or even later. Any IBAN belonging to the SEPA area will be accepted for reimbursement.

Don’t have an Italian bank account yet?

In theory you should be able to add a foreign IBAN as well. At least N26 online bank promises on its website that its both the Italian IBAN (recently the bank issues cards with it for those residing in Italy) and the German IBAN (old bank accounts holders) are accepted. Author’s note: It’s super easy to sign up for an account with N26 (those who opened accounts in Italy will understand what I’m talking about…). Taking part in the Christmas cashback with N26, the 100% digital bank, is quick and simple. Each N26 current account includes a Mastercard debit card compatible with smartphone payments: all you have to do is enter it among the payment methods available in the Wallet section of the PagoPA IO app. Sign up now and get €5 !

 

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