The measure of State cashback , which allows you to obtain a “refund” of 10% on purchases made through cards in physical stores for a maximum of 150 euro (for the month of December) was liked by Italians: the IO app, necessary to take advantage of the cashback, has been for more than 9 million people , with peaks d i 700. 00 0 downloads per day between 7 and 9 December (the measure was officially launched on 8). Fixed the inefficiencies of the first days, which in some cases prevented the insertion of the cards, now everything seems to go smoothly, but numerous users have reported the fact that not all payments have been tracked by the app and, consequently, have been excluded from cashback. The problem? Maestro and V-Pay circuits .

State cashback: better to avoid payments contactless (for now)

Stimulated by the prospect of a small refund (maximum 150 euro, which will be credited to the current account in February 2021), there are many Italians who have joined the cashback measure. After a couple of weeks, however, several realized that not all transactions made were recorded by the IO app, despite the cards used were inserted in the app and active.

The problem, as explained by PagoPA, is related to payments made in contactless mode, therefore bringing the card close to the POS and avoiding entering the PIN (at least for expenses below a certain threshold).

The problem, explains PagoPA, “ occurs if the user has registered in the Portfolio section of the IO app your debit card can be used on the double PagoBANCOMAT / Maestro or PagoBANCOMAT / V-Pay circuit only with the wizard relating to PagoBANCOMAT cards and not as a “credit, debit or prepaid card”, if previously enabled for online payments. This is the case of the so-called “co-badge cards “, that is the two logos of the respective circuits and to which two distinct PAN codes are associated, or two card numbers. This happens because the second PAN (Maestro or V-Pay) could be used by the POS during contactless payments “.

Said more simply, when one make a payment with cards that support multiple circuits, u if the contactless mode is used, payment does not necessarily take place through the PagoBancomat circuit and, in many cases, passes through the second PAN, not giving the right to a refund . The solution is simple: just avoid the contactless mode and insert the card into the reader, typing the relative PIN. Unfortunately, transactions already made are to be considered “lost” .

PagoPA has however specified that from January the app will be updated to include this type of card as well. Until then, however, it is necessary to make a little effort and remember to insert the card to be entitled to the 10% cashback on the purchase. A minor annoyance, of course, but it would have been useful if this information had been communicated promptly to citizens, and not a posteriori.