Money-for-nothing deals may be worthy – if there’s no catch

You can get money back for groceries and petrol with rewards schemes, but some will be a waste of time so be selective, writes Louise McBride

CONSUMERS are being increasingly bombarded with offers of discounts, rewards and cashback as companies compete against each other to hold on to and win over customers. Don’t rush into these offers in a bid to make a quick buck, though: they may be just an attempt by a business to get you to spend more money with it or to change how you interact with it — thereby saving it money in the long run.

Signing up to some deals can be a good way to put a bit of money back into your pocket — as long as there isn’t a catch which will cost you at the time or in the long run.

Here are some offers worth considering.

DEBIT CARD CASHBACK

The debit card rewards scheme run by most banks could see you get money back for your groceries, petrol and cinema visits, with little or no effort on your part. The main proviso is that you use your debit card for the purchase. Some schemes also work with credit cards.

In recent weeks, it was possible to get €10 back on €50 of groceries bought in Dunnes Stores if you used an AIB debit or credit card to buy your groceries and had signed up to the bank’s Everyday Rewards scheme.

Some of the recent offers available under Permanent TSB’s rewards scheme, Go Rewards, included €5 back on €50 of fuel bought in Circle K, €5 back on purchases of €25 or more at Eason, and 10pc back on a visit to Omniplex cinema.

You must have a current account and debit card with a bank that offers a rewards scheme to be able to take up these cashback offers. Either a debit or credit card can be used with AIB’s scheme.

AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB all have card rewards schemes, though EBS and Ulster Bank don’t. Bank of Ireland’s card rewards scheme is known as Live Life Rewards.

It won’t cost you anything to sign up to these rewards schemes, which are run in conjunction with Visa. You don’t need to claim the cashback or use a voucher to get your reward either — once you have signed up to your bank’s rewards scheme and have met the conditions of the cashback offer, your bank will automatically credit your account within a week (typically within five working days) with the amount of money you’re owed.

Conditions of these cashback offers typically include spending a minimum amount of money in a specific retailer within certain dates, and using a card which you have registered with your bank’s rewards scheme.

The cashback offers are typically emailed to you each week and often personalised, so you should be able to get money back on things which you typically use your debit card to pay for anyway. The most you might save on these cashback offers might only be between €10 and €40 a month but it’s still worth making those savings if you can.

Avoid taking up these offers for things you wouldn’t normally buy — otherwise, reward schemes could see you spend money unnecessarily. Don’t let these offers entice you to shop in expensive stores either. A cashback deal won’t save you money if it works out cheaper to buy the goods elsewhere, even allowing for the cashback.

Avoid the temptation, too, to increase your credit card spending so that you can take up various rewards as you could be hit with credit card interest, unless you can clear your credit card bill in full each month. Stick to your debit card if buying under these schemes.

Should you dislike getting your email account clogged up with emails alerting you to cashback offers, you should be able to opt out of such correspondence and instead find out about the latest offers by logging into the rewards scheme’s website yourself.

As long as you have a debit card, you should not have to change your current account to be eligible for your bank’s rewards scheme, so don’t make the mistake of opening a more expensive current account so you can get rewards.

Should you not already have a current account, don’t let the rewards scheme offered by a bank or financial institution be your sole reason for choosing that account. Instead choose an account with low annual charges and which offers the chance to avoid those charges altogether by managing your account in a certain way.

With An Post’s Smart current account, you can get 10pc off SSE Airtricity bills if you pay the bill from a direct debit set up on your Smart account. You can also get 5pc back on shopping at Lidl as long as you spend more than €25 with your Smart debit card, and 5pc off Sunway holidays. However, at €60 a year, the maintenance fees on An Post’s Smart current account are higher than those charged by the banks.

KBC has a more traditional cashback scheme where customers can get 1pc cashback on grocery and online purchases bought with a KBC credit card. There is a €10 limit however on the amount of cashback you can get a month.

VHI’S €150 CASHBACK

There is now only a day left to take up VHI’s Online Advantage cashback offer, worth up to €150 for a family of two adults and two children. To be eligible for the maximum discount, you must agree to get your VHI documentation online and pay your bills electronically (such as by direct debit or salary deduction). You must also have private health insurance with VHI — you won’t be eligible if you only have VHI dental insurance, travel insurance or a cash plan with the insurer.

Ensure you are comfortable getting and reading all of your documentation online, including claims statements and renewal notices, before signing up. You will receive an email notification when a new VHI document is available for you to read, so be sure too to check your emails regularly.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Neither of the other two private health insurers — Laya and Irish Life Health (ILH) — have a cashback offer similar to VHI’s Online Advantage, but both offer some discounts. ILH’s loyalty programme (Amazing Plus) offers its members various discounts, including a 12pc Eason discount, 10pc off certain clothes and trainers in Lifestyle Sports, and a 20pc discounts off Pure Results bootcamps.

This October, Laya is offering a discount of between 5pc and 10pc off a number of private health insurance policies, as long as the cover is bought online. Some of the policies the discounts are available on include Assure Vitality, Assure Protect, Flex 250 Explore and Flex 500 Explore. There are also discounts available to those who take up Laya’s free Health coach benefit, where a health coach designs an eight-week personalised health programme for Laya members. These discounts include 10pc off fitness wear at Lifestyle Sports and 10pc off any Club Vitae membership.

OTHER LOYALTY CLUBS

There are a raft of loyalty schemes run by various businesses, including energy suppliers such as Bord Gais Energy and Electric Ireland, service stations, some bin collection companies, supermarkets and shops.

Before signing up to any loyalty scheme, understand how it works, read the terms and conditions, and find out if the rewards or discounts are the type you’re likely to take up. Otherwise, you could just end up spending more money on things you don’t really want or need — and your email account could be clogged up.