As of: January 22, 2024, 4:50 a.m
By: Christian Deutschländer
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A refugee holds a debit card in his hand.
The Ortenau district between the Rhine and the Black Forest wants to issue the first payment cards for refugees from this Tuesday.
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
The Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg presents its model for payment cards.
Bavaria is also planning to present the asylum card in February.
Offenburg – The next chip card is coming onto the market: Tomorrow a district in Baden-Württemberg wants to present a model for its first payment card for refugees and issue the cards.
The Ortenau district between the Rhine and the Black Forest is one of the German pioneers.
“We didn’t want to wait, we wanted to get started,” said Alexandra Roth, head of the migration department.
The district with 430,000 people is therefore faster than Bavaria - but sets its standards lower.
There are no conditions associated with the card from the southwest.
“At the moment the card functions as a cash replacement,” says Roth.
Refugees can therefore use their debit card to pay in retail stores and withdraw money from ATMs.
This saves the authority the expense of handing out cash to recipients and minimizes the risk of theft.
Payment cards for refugees – the district in Baden-Württemberg is starting
According to the district, maps of this type are also available in the major cities of Hanover and Leipzig.
At the beginning of November, the federal and state governments agreed to develop proposals for nationwide uniform standards for a payment card for refugees by the end of January.
The FDP in particular campaigned to deprive those seeking protection of the opportunity to transfer money from state support in Germany to relatives and friends in their country of origin.
Around 2,000 refugees live in accommodation in Ortenaukreis.
The so-called SocialCard is intended for around 300 to 400 refugees who do not yet have their own account in Germany.
The card bears a logo from the large provider Visa and is visually neutral in order to avoid stigmatizing users, said Roth.
There is a digital version for the smartphone.
Each recipient has an individual card on which the money is posted.
There is a card for families.
Roth said that the administration does not control what is done with the credit: “There is no tracking of who purchases what and when.
We can only see the balance amount, but not account histories.
There is neither reason nor legal basis for this.”
“It will happen quickly” – Bavaria’s asylum card will arrive in February
Bavaria is currently working on its own map model and is a few weeks away from presenting it.
The award process is currently underway, says Interior State Secretary Sandro Kirchner (CSU) when asked.
“It will happen quickly: the aim is to award the contract in the second half of February and then start immediately with several pilot municipalities.
This Bavarian card can be used as part of the pilot test at the end of March.
We want to roll this out across Bavaria in the course of the second quarter.”
Kirchner is responsible for the map in the state government.
His requirement: The card should not just replace money, but should set clear limits.
“We want to avoid cash payments.
Cash is associated with access incentives and cash is used to finance smuggling crime.
Our card will reduce withdrawals to a minimum, there will be no online purchases, no transfers, no money transfers abroad.”
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The pilot communities should exist throughout Bavaria.
One of them is Fürstenfeldbruck.
Kirchner wants to relieve the districts of effort and costs as much as possible.
“The Free State pays for the development and operation of the card.
Our claim is that all municipalities in Bavaria can use this.”
(C. BÖHMER/C. DEUTSCHLÄNDER)