The age of cashback has begun and we are already thinking about the possible tricks to get around the limits and difficulties. From 8 to 31 December Italians will be able to benefit from the so-called "Christmas cashback", but only if they pay during these 24 days at least 10 times with traceable tools (credit card, debit card, prepaid card or app). Since 2021, on the other hand, the cashback will become fully operational and the minimum limit of transactions to be entitled to refunds will rise to 50 in six months.
The measure does not include income ceilings or spending thresholds, consequently the minimum number of digital payments is the only condition to be met in order to be entitled to refunds.
In this regard, the standard clarifies that artificial splitting of costs is prohibited. It means that you are not allowed to pay a fridge with five digital transactions just to reach your payment limit.
Other strategies, however, are implicitly admitted by the state. Who wants to buy a series of books, for example, can go to the bookstore several times instead of concluding the purchase with a single operation. In this way, precisely because there is no minimum spending limit, each book counts as a payment useful for reaching 10 in December or 50 between January and June.
Another possibility is that of delegate all family purchases to a single person, who can therefore concentrate expenses on a single card and thus more easily reach the minimum number of payments or the maximum reimbursement, which can then be shared with their family members.
In fact, to enter the world of cashback, you need to register on the IO app of the public administration e associate at least one payment card with your profile, the one we will use for purchases on which we want a 10% refund.
Predictably, however, the high number of accesses sent the state-run application into a tailspin almost immediately. Already on the morning of December 7, IO reported the impossibility of adding payment methods due to the excessive number of requests (over 6 per second).
To get around this kind of difficulty, you can also join the cashback through private payment apps such as Satispay, Yap, Nexi Pay, Postepay e BancoPosta (for the 29 million holders) and from mid-January for Pay ATM. In this way, you don't have to go through the IO App, which - unlike other applications - requires users to log in with their digital identity credentials Speed or with the PIN of the electronic identity card (Cie). A further complication that can be avoided in this way.
The alternative route is not feasible for those who want to associate multiple payment instruments referring to different operators with the cashback: in this case, it is still mandatory to register on IO. Not surprisingly, in the last week the public administration app has been downloaded over a million and a half times.
Read also the FIRSTonline guide to cashback: 3 types of refunds, similar rules.
