Customers in Cork are set to lose out after a gift voucher company has been shut down.
UAB PayrNet, which provides gift vouchers to some shopping centres in Ireland, had its licence taken away by Lithuanian regulators over suspicions of money laundering.
The issue will affect gift cards Mahon Point Shopping Centre, along with other centres such as the Square Tallaght and Liffey Valley,
Dermot Jewell of the Consumers' Association of Ireland says these vouchers were always considered to be very safe for consumers:
"What makes them unique, from most others, is that after a period of time, usually 12 or 13 months, as the holder the card, you pay a management fee that's deducted each month from the balance on the card. The goal and the selling point of that fee has always been that there's a safeguarding mechanism which means that any money that's paid into the account must be ring fenced into a separate account."
