All anyone can talk about these days is the 2020 Christmas cashback, the €150 “prize” that the Government wants to give to those who make Christmas purchases this year using a credit or debit card. 

But how does the Christmas 2020 cashback work, and above all, how does the much-talked-about IO.app work, the cashback app from which it will be possible to request the refund?

Let's see it together. 

What does the 2020 Christmas cashback bonus consist of?

Cashback was already mentioned in the 2020 Budget Law: essentially, those who made purchases with a credit or debit card would be rewarded by receiving a bonus. This bonus (cashback) is nothing more than a small percentage calculated and given by the Government for each purchase made. 

This measure will come into force in 2021 with methods that are not yet fully known. But the Christmas cashback 2020 is an extra compared to the measure mentioned above: here you just need to register on the IO.it website or download the app using your SPID credentials or electronic identity card. 

Then, you will need to register your payment methods, and finally... off you go with the shopping!

When and how to buy - Christmas cashback 2020

Cashback will be calculated on purchases made during the month of December 2020, using the payment method registered on the app. The company responsible for the transaction automatically sends the data received, which will be integrated when refunding. 

Regardless of how much you spent, you cannot receive more than €15 in cashback on each purchase according to the Christmas 2020 cashback. 

Last detail: you have to spend in physical stores. 

How Cashback Apps Work

While the government cashback is a real bonus, cashback is normally nothing more than an amount that the user already pays, and that instead of being sent to the seller at the time of purchase, is withheld by a third party. The purpose of this is to guarantee a discount on other purchases, based on the customer's loyalty to the private cashback app. 

As is evident, in reality the cashback money is money that the user has already spent previously, and that is somehow returned to him. 

The cashback app, or the site, therefore enters into agreements with various e-commerce sites, and receives the data of our purchases. This is already an advantage in itself, considering the cost of this kind of information! Then the percentage of purchases goes to “feed” our cashback, which can then be returned in different forms: from goods to money, to a further discount on other goods.

In conclusion

We will see how this government bonus operation, designed to push Italians to buy in physical stores, will evolve. Whether cashback really encourages purchases, we will only be able to verify it next year.