Preliminary information
THEIO app was born as a project managed by the company for the development of digital services PagoPA SpA and is available, for all citizens, from April 2020 in a totally free. At the time of writing, the application is available for Android and iPhone smartphones and tablets and is still in open beta. This essentially means that IO is a project still in progress and that the services included in the application are available in limited quantities. In short, everything is still in the experimental phase and we will have to wait even longer before being able to use the application to its full functionality.
Yes but how app IO works and what can you do with this application? I'll answer you immediately. IO was essentially designed to be a link between citizens and the Public Administration. In particular, IO aims to be the reference point for the telematic services offered by the latter. The IO.it project refers to art. 64 bis of the new Digital Administration Code which aims to propose the telematic services of the public administration in a single point and in a clear, simple and transparent manner.
Regarding the services offered by the application, there is a distinction to be made: various services are available a national level and others a local level. The latter vary according to your area of residence: once you have logged in, as I will show you in a specific chapter of this guide, the app will automatically show you all the services available in your area.
In any case, you will have the possibility to receive notifications and warnings (check deadlines and communications) from public bodies: in this way you will always have the possibility to check if you are up to date with the payment of taxes and duties and you can also set related reminders directly to your personal calendar. The app then makes it possible to pay the accounts directly through the PagoPA service.
As regards the notices, at the moment, those relating to theACI (You will receive notifications, for example, when a vehicle in your name is entered in the public motor vehicle register or when a registration or administrative detention by a Collection Agent occurs). You can also receive notifications about the status of the payment of the car tax, check certificates and attestations of ownership, and receive communications regarding a application for citizenship application. In short: in IO there is much more than just Cashback, which I will tell you about anyway in due course.
Furthermore, if you have received a paper notice with a payment request, you will also have the possibility to pay directly by framing the QR code directly with the app. You will also be able to view the history of transactions made with the payment methods registered in the application, which I will tell you more about later in this tutorial.
Finally, IO also acts as a personal archive of your documents (for now, the Electronic Identity Card and fiscal Code, While the health insurance card will be included soon). For example, in the app you can view a facsimile of your tax code that you can show if necessary in the years in which it can be requested, such as in pharmacies or post offices. Additionally, as of June 2021, the IO app may contain the COVID-19 Green Certification. I will tell you specifically about these features in a dedicated chapter of the tutorial.
Before proceeding further, I inform you that to use IO it is necessary to have the identifier SPID, obtainable for free online and used to access all the services of the PA (and not only) using the same credentials, or of the Electronic Identity Card (CIE). For the latter you can contact the registry office of your municipality of residence directly (check immediately here if it is possible to apply for the CIE in your city).
How to use the IO app
Let's now go to the point and see specifically all the steps to download theIO app, install it and log in for the first time. As you will see shortly, these are really immediate and very simple procedures to complete. Just follow the directions I am about to give you. Here are all the details.
How to download the IO app
You must know, first of all, that IO is available on both OS-based devices Android, be on iPhone. How long iPadUnfortunately, at the moment the developers have not yet released a special version. So I start by showing you how to download and install the application on Android. To get started, open the IO page on the Play Store or, if the Google store is not available on your smartphone or tablet, take a look at the alternatives I told you about in this guide. Once you have opened the page I indicated above, click on the button Install, to download IO.
If what you use, on the other hand, is a iPhone you can open the application page on the App Store; then, to download it, just press the button Ottieni / Installa and verify your identity through Face ID, touch ID o password dell'ID Apple (if requested).
How to access the IO app
Once you have downloaded the application, you need to log in for the first time. Then start the IO app and, on the login page, choose a method for the authentication process. Those available are, as I specified in the preliminary information chapter, the CIE or the SPID. To log in with the latter, just press the button Sign in with SPID.
At this point, you can choose the provider with which you registered the SPID by pressing on the relative icon. If you want to know how to create a SPID, check out the guide I wrote on the subject. You will then be redirected to the SPID login page provided by your provider, where you will need to provide your address e-mail Password and security code (or in any case you will have to authorize access through the identity provider's app). Once logged in with SPID, press the button Accept, to accept the terms and conditions of use of the application.
Then set a 6-digit numeric unlock code (PIN) by typing it on the on-screen keyboard and then typing it again to confirm it. This code will be requested instead of your SPID identifier or your CIE data during the subsequent accesses you will make. Then press the button Continue and then press the button again Continue to confirm your email address. Perfect! you just logged into the app.
On the home page, in the tab Messages, you can see an overview of all communications from public bodies. To activate the fingerprint or face recognition and make access faster, just press on the voice Profile, bottom right. Then press on the item Pref Renze and then on that Biometric recognition.
Then press on the switch located near the voice Activate biometric recognition. Great: from now on, the application will allow you to log in via face recognition or fingerprint. If you cannot use the biometric recognition method, just press the button Cancel, at login and type the PIN. However, I inform you that for security reasons, after 30 days from the last access to the app, you will have to re-enter with SPID or CIE.
How to activate Cashback on the IO app
I've told you so far in general about IO and of the way to download it and access it, however, if you have happened on this page, most likely it is just to understand how to activate the State cashback in this application. As you may already know, in fact, starting from December 2020, to combat tax evasion and encourage the use of electronic payment methods, the city government allows you to receive 10% back (up to a maximum of 300 euros / year , divided into 150 euros per semester) of the expenses incurred in the physical stores where you have chosen to pay via electronic money (i.e. credit / debit / prepaid card or payment app) in the form, precisely, of cashback bonuses.
For every single transaction, you will be able to recover to the maximum 15 €. The requirement, to access the bonus, is to have completed 18 years e reside in the city. To get the cashback you will need to have done at least 50 transactions by e-money starting from 1 January 2021 in the following 6 months. The cashback bonus will be active in three different periods of six months each: the first from January 2021 to June 2021 inclusive, the second from July 2021 to December 2021 inclusive and the third (for now last) from January 2022 to June 2022 inclusive. For more details on how State Cashback works, you can check out my guide on this.
To take advantage of this opportunity, you must first register an eligible payment method that you own in the IO app. I'll explain how to do it right away. Once you have downloaded the app and logged in as I indicated in the previous chapters of this guide, click on the item Our customers that you find on the main page of the application, then press on the notice in evidence relating to the Cashback.
From here, press the button Activate Cashback, then click on each of the authorization boxes to check each one and, finally, click on the button I declare. At this point you need to enter your code IBAN in 'IO app to credit the bonus and press the button Continue (if you want to add your IBAN at a later time, click on the button Salta).
At this point, press the button Add a method to insert one of your cards. To date, the application supports most credit and debit cards. For the purposes of the tutorial I'll show you specifically how does app IO with ATMs work e how IO app for ATM bonus works.
Once you have pressed on the button Add a method, tap on the item PagoBANCOMAT card (if you want to enter another payment method, just click on the relevant items you see in the list). Then press the button Continue. At this point, the PagoBANCOMAT card in your name should appear automatically, if not, you will need to contact your bank.
Once you have found the PagoBANCOMAT card, press the button Save. At this point you will be asked to activate the cashback on the card: press, then, on theswitch placed next to the card name and then on the button Attiva.
Optimal! Did you do everything there was to do, happy? At this point, every time you pay in a shop physical with the card you registered in this way, the IO app will automatically take into account the payment and you can check your cashback and transactions by pressing on the item Our customers on the main page of the app and then by touching the item Cashback and the button Transaction detail.
If you want to add another payment method for the State Cashback, just click on the item again Our customers on the main page of the app, then on the button Add a method to cashback and repeat the steps I showed you above. The steps are the same for any credit or debit card, with the only difference that in that case you will be asked to enter the cardholder's name, card number, expiry date and the relevant CVC code you find. in the back.
Finally, I remind you that for the cashback to become active you may have to wait a few hours and, in general, even the payments made are displayed in the app a few hours after the actual occurrence of the individual transactions.
Please note: although it is the "official" solution for managing the State Cashback, the IO app is not essential to join the initiative. Some payment apps, such as Satispay and Enel X Pay, for example, allow you to participate in the State Cashback without going through the latter. You can find all the details in the tutorials that I have just linked to you.
How COVID-19 Green Certification works
The IO app also allows you to receive the COVID-19 Green Certification (EU Digital Covid Certificate), also known as Green pass. How does it work? Nothing could be easier: in the IO app you will receive a message every time a certificate in your name is available. By opening the aforementioned message, IO will download the QR code and data of your certificate from the national platform, which you can then show directly from your device.
You can save the QR code of the certificate in the Gallery and show it at any time as if it were a common image, or you can save it in the Wallet of the operating system (function not yet supported at the time of writing).
For all the details, I suggest you consult the official IO page and the FAQs always present on the official website of the application.
Other functions of the IO app
As I mentioned in the opening bars of the tutorial, in addition to Cashback, in the IO app it is also possible to do other things, starting from examining the stored documents. To do this, just press on the item Profile that you find at the bottom right of the main page and then press on the item Tax code you see above.
Now, press twice on each document present, to view the facsimile and scroll down the page, to view the barcode.
To check, instead, the services available for the app in your area, just press on the item Services, at the bottom of the main page. At this point, in the tab Locations, tap on the item Add your areas of interest and enter the name of your Municipality of residence, to memorize it and show the services in the card Locations of the app.
Always on the menu Servicesby pressing on the tab All, you can view all the services available for the app. By pressing on the name of each service, you can access the area for managing alerts and notifications, which will be automatically set as active. You can deactivate the latter by pressing onswitch next to the item Push notifications; if you intend to deactivate the service, press the switch next to the item The service is active on your pulse Ok.
To scan the QR code of a paper payment notice, just click on the item instead Our customers present on the home page. Press the button Pay a notice, authorize the app to access the camera and scan the QR code.
To add the reminder of the deadlines automatically to your calendars, click on the item Profile on the main page of the app, then tap on the items Pref Renze e Favorite calendar, provide permission to use the calendars and, finally, choose the calendar in which to store the reminders, by clicking on its name in the list.
For other general information on the application and its features, I refer you to the section with the answers to the most frequently asked questions about IO of its official website.
How does app IO
