The Government at work for an extra cashback up to 150 euro, but to get it you have to make a certain number of purchases and follow very precise rules
Updated on 24/11/2020 with the latest news, at the bottom of the article
The Government continues to work on the Italia Cashless plan to encourage electronic payments not only online, but also at physical stores. The measure is not yet defined, and there's a lot of confusion about it, but there are more and more insistent news that suggest that the famous experimental phase in December will bring an extra €150 refund.
Some details are also starting to emerge about what you'll have to do to get the refund, but it's still not clear when you'll have to start making purchases for them to be counted. This, paradoxically, could discourage Christmas shopping until the situation is clear because to get the bonus you will have to make several transactions. What seems to emerge at the moment, however, is that it is an extra cashback, which is added to those already provided so far. Here's what should be the modalities to get the Christmas cashback of 150 euros.
Christmas cashback: how it works
More than cashback of 150 euros we should talk about cashback of 10%, with a maximum threshold of reimbursement equal to 150 euros. This means that to get the 150 euros of reimbursement you must have spent at least 1,500 for Christmas gifts, otherwise you will receive less.
Another parameter to be respected, then, is that relating to the number of purchases: at least 10 payments. It will not be enough to make a single large purchase, maybe just 1,500 euros, but if you have to make many and if the sum of ten purchases will exceed 1,500 euros, the refund will not exceed 150 euros.
Christmas cashback: what purchases will be counted
It has not yet been announced whether these ten purchases necessary to obtain the Christmas cashback up to 150 euros will have to concern specific product categories or if everything will be counted. Except for this detail, which is certainly not insignificant, the rules should be the same as those already outlined by the Government for the Cashless Italy Plan.
That is, only purchases made in physical stores but with electronic money will be included in the count: credit cards, debit cards and apps such as Google Pay, Satispay, Samsung Pay or Apple Pay. Online purchases or transfer payments will not be counted. It will also be forbidden to split a single large purchase into multiple payments of a smaller amount.
Christmas cashback: when it starts and when the money arrives
Finally, it is not clear what will be the first day from which purchases will be counted in order to get the cashback. It's very likely, though, that it will be sometime between late November and early December. From the rumors, however, it would seem that the date for the refund (which will take place on current account) could fall already in December. If this were the case, given the technical times to set up the whole system, we could think of a window of two or three weeks at most to make the ten purchases and a quick refund immediately after to encourage last minute purchases.
Christmas cashback: latest news
In the last few hours, several more details about Christmas cashback have emerged: all expenses paid with apps and cards will be counted, including food and service expenses, there will be a cap on each of the 10 refunds and you'll need to register with the IO app. All the details in this in-depth look at Christmas Cashback.