Spend Local Scheme Unable To Verify Up To 100,000 People

Some 100,000 people have been contacted by the Department for the Economy (DofE), after the Spend Local application system has been unable to automatically verify.

The department has contacted people from the email address noreply@spendlocalni.com asking for further information to complete their applications.

The DofE has reassured people that the emails are legitimate and not a scam. The email may arrive into your junk folder. If this has happened, please move the email into your inbox folder before you access the link to upload your documents.

The email will ask recipients to upload further information to verify their identity. Please follow the instructions in the email carefully.

Some people may have had difficulties uploading their documents due to the file format. This issue has now been resolved. If you are continuing to have issues uploading your documents, please try a different file format.

Please do not send the requested verification information to the Spend Local or @Economy_NI email mailboxes or social media accounts – any documents sent to these mailboxes will not be processed.

You have seven days from receipt of the email to complete the verification required. This applies only to those people who have received the email.

The existing deadline for new applications for a Spend Local card remains midnight on Monday 25 October for online applications and 6pm the same day for telephone applications.

If you have not yet made your application, please do so without delay. Please also consider if you have friends or family members who may need help with applying.

To date the department have received more than 1.3million applications.

Cards will continue to be issued to successful applicants over the coming weeks.