Meal, eco, and consumption vouchers
Meal, eco, and consumption vouchers are a popular extra-legal benefit in Belgium. Learn more about them in this article.
Meal, eco, and consumption vouchers are a popular extra-legal benefit in Belgium. In the past, meal vouchers were typically in the form of paper tickets. Gradually, they were replaced by electronic vouchers in the form of a special payment card. Today, they are exclusively issued in electronic format that combines the value of meal vouchers, eco vouchers, and other vouchers in a single card.
Note: Retailers are free to choose if and what types of vouchers they accept. Meal, eco and consumption vouchers are widely accepted in food stores. Consumption and eco vouchers are used in non-food stores. The restriction of payment is only applicable for eco and meal vouchers, not for consumption vouchers.
Meal vouchers
Meal vouchers can only be used for purchasing comestibles. They are usually reloaded by the employer onto the employee’s electronic card monthly.
Eco vouchers
Eco vouchers can only be used for purchasing items that support the green economy by promoting environmentally friendly, eco-designed and/or sustainable products. They are usually reloaded by the employer onto the employee’s electronic card yearly.
Consumption vouchers
The consumption voucher has been introduced by the Belgian government to stimulate the economy, and boost employee’s purchasing power. It supports the recovery of sectors that have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. The consumption vouchers were loaded onto the employee’s electronic card one time.
Note: These voucher types can be applied when performing transactions with any available payment method processing type (e.g. cash, EFT, and others).
