As of: February 15, 2024, 2:20 p.m
By: Felix Durach
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Hamburg is the first country to issue the payment card.
Bavaria is planning a nationwide introduction in the first half of the year - with strict restrictions.
Hamburg/Munich – The payment card for asylum seekers is apparently the method of choice for the federal states to initiate a turnaround in German migration policy.
At the end of January, 14 of 16 countries agreed to introduce a common procurement procedure - Bavaria chose the special route.
But while the Bavarian payment card is still a long time coming, Hamburg will be the first federal state to issue its own payment cards as part of a pilot project from Thursday (February 15th).
Hamburg is the first federal state to issue payment cards for asylum seekers
Asylum seekers receive a credit of 185 euros every month on the “SocialCard” to purchase everyday items.
Benefits for children are also transferred to the parents' cards.
However, payments abroad and in online shops are not possible.
The card offers advantages for both benefit recipients and the administration: “Beneficiary recipients no longer have to come to an authority or health insurance office, which saves them travel and time.
At the same time, the burden on the district paying offices is relieved,” it said.
It is therefore planned to gradually issue the card to other benefit recipients.
Pilot projects at the local level had already started in several federal states.
Hamburg is now the first federal state to start using payment cards.
The first projects are also expected to start soon in Bavaria.
Bavaria wants to lead the way with payment cards – “it’s faster and harder”
“Our payment card comes faster and is harder,” Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder announced in an article on X at the beginning of February.
The CSU boss had promised the start of a pilot project in four municipalities in March.
But even if the Free State is still a little behind at the start, it should be one step ahead when it comes to nationwide introduction.
“We want to start with a pilot at the end of March and then have the payment card available in the second quarter,” announced Interior State Secretary Sandro Kirchner in a video on X on February 1st.
Hamburg is the first country to issue a payment card for refugees.
Bavaria wants to surpass the Hanseatic city shortly.
© Peter Kneffel/Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
The Europe-wide tender for the nationwide payment card in the federal government does not end until June.
As soon as the joint plans are in place, the Hamburg pilot project should end.
In addition to Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also relies on a special payment card option.
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Söder wants to crack down on the Bavarian payment card – “50 euros.
That's enough"
The introduction of the card is intended to prevent refugees from sending money to family and friends abroad or from paying people smugglers.
This is intended to reduce so-called “pull factors” – incentives that are intended to entice people to flee to Germany.
“We need an effective limitation on uncontrolled immigration as quickly as possible.
“This requires a reduction in incentives to come to Germany,” explained Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) in an article on the short message service X at the beginning of February.
Söder repeatedly emphasized that the Bavarian payment card should meet strict requirements - including when it comes to cash.
The CSU leader reiterated this at the Political Ash Wednesday in Passau.
“There is discussion elsewhere: 250 euros, we do 50 euros.
“That’s enough,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister.
There is food and an apartment for the refugees.
“In the end, there’s no need for cash.”
In addition, the Bavarian payment card should only be used in the immediate vicinity of the accommodation and for a specific range of goods.
“Only goods for everyday use can be purchased in shops.
We are stopping online shopping, gambling and transfers abroad,” said Söder in an interview with
Bild am Sonntag
.
Criticism of payment cards for asylum seekers – ProAsyl complains about exclusion
The ProAsyl association criticized the agreement on the introduction of a payment card as discriminatory.
Refugees would be excluded from important areas of life due to the restrictions on the card and their self-determination would be restricted.
“You can’t buy anything with your payment card at a community festival or in the school cafeteria,” writes ProAsyl in a post on its website.
(fd with dpa)