Spend Local card: Deadline looms on last day to use £100 voucher

Requests to extend the deadline have been turned down even though some people will not receive their card on time

This is the last day that Northern Ireland's £100 Spend Local cards can be spent even though some people who applied have yet to receive one.

The scheme was set up to encourage consumer spending and help businesses badly affected by the Covid pandemic.

It had been due to close at the end of November but the deadline was extended amid problems with delivering cards.

More than 1.4 million people applied and last week Stormont said 10,000 cards were yet to be delivered.

The deadline for spending the money on the card is midnight on Sunday.

But appeals for that to be extended again have been turned down even though some people will not receive their £100 card before the deadline.

On Friday the Department for the Economy said a "small proportion" of cards were still in the postal system.

'Use it or lose it'

Any money that has not been spent will be returned to the economy department.

More than £131m has been spent at businesses in Northern Ireland as a result of the high street voucher scheme.

Gordon Lyons wants people to use the full £100 balance on their cards

Retail trade bodies have credited a boost in high street sales to the scheme, said Economy Minister Gordon Lyons.

Anyone who had yet to use their card or spent the full balance on it should "use it now", he said.

The majority of people have already used their cards, he said, but most of those who have not are young people.

"Make sure you get out there and use it or you'll lose it," said the minister.

"If you have any balance remaining on your card - no matter how small - go out and buy a newspaper, a coffee, a Christmas card or whatever you want."

"Please spend your card to the limit today."

'Make sure no-one misses out'

There have been several problems with the administration of the scheme, which led to delays in delivering thousands of the requested vouchers.

The Department for the Economy said that anyone who had yet to receive their card would not be denied the chance to spend the money.

It said it was "closely monitoring this cohort of cards and will ensure these applicants do not miss out due to postal delays".

Most of those who have yet to spend the full balance on their card are young people

It added: "After the scheme closes, the department will take stock of the various issues people have faced and options for remedy."

Before the scheme began, the department said the cards were expected to arrive by post between seven and 10 days after an application was submitted.

It said that would leave everyone with at least a month to spend the money.

But problems with the scheme website and the process of verifying some applications slowed the process for thousands of people.

There were also complaints from a small number of users whose cards were rejected when they tried to use them to pay in shops and other businesses.

The department said the people who had yet to receive a card had filed applications that "included errors" or they had not responded to requests for more information to verify their application within a specified time period.