What the Irish rules say
The Irish rules apply to many vouchers sold by businesses, including vouchers sold to consumers and other businesses. If the voucher has an expiry date, the period must be at least five years from the purchase date. A business can choose not to apply an expiry date.
The customer must receive the expiry information on a durable medium, such as paper or email. The information should make clear the expiry date, the contract date and the redemption period, or state that no expiry applies. The CCPC also explains that a customer cannot be required to spend the entire value in one transaction or be limited in the number of vouchers used together.
Partial use and small balances
A monetary voucher is not a single-use coupon. If part of the value is used, the remaining value should stay available until the voucher is exhausted or expires. Under the CCPC guidance, where more than €1 remains, the balance can be refunded by cash, electronic transfer or a new voucher carrying the original expiry.
Bronora keeps the remaining value on the same monetary voucher. Every redemption and reversal creates a record, so the original issue, the current balance and earlier use remain explainable to the issuing business and the recipient.
What should remain available to the customer
The voucher and its customer-access page should identify the issuing business, voucher code, issue date, expiry date or no-expiry statement, current balance and the terms that applied when the voucher was bought. For an experience voucher, include booking and availability conditions as well as the general voucher terms.
Merchants using Bronora start with five years’ validity for paid vouchers and can choose no expiry. Before publishing, make sure the product description and customer terms do not contradict the expiry information shown to the recipient.
Check exclusions before relying on them
The Act contains exclusions, including certain short-term discount vouchers, refunds, electronic money, loyalty schemes and promotional schemes. Whether an exclusion applies depends on the voucher and the way it is sold. Do not treat a marketing label as an exclusion without checking the current guidance and obtaining advice where needed.
A useful launch check
Review an actual test voucher on a phone and in its delivery email. Confirm that the merchant name, value, terms, issue date, validity and contact details are readable before taking an order. Use the voucher terms checklist alongside this guide, particularly for fixed experiences and bookings.