Almost two months after the introduction of the payment card for asylum seekers in four Bavarian test municipalities, 38 other cities and districts are now following suit. “The distribution and number of cards is increasing week after week. While there were around 2,000 cards in the pilot and around 3,400 at the beginning of last week, there are now more than 6,000,” said Interior State Secretary Sandro Kirchner (CSU) to the German press. Agency. The 38 municipalities in which the introduction is starting include the districts of Starnberg, Straubing-Bogen and Lichtenfels as well as the cities of Bayreuth, Würzburg, Schweinfurt, Schwabach and Memmingen.
“The Bavaria-wide rollout of the payment card is going according to plan,” said Kirchner. After the first pilot phase in Straubing, Fürstenfeldbruck, Günzburg and Traunstein, the card-based payment system was established in 15 other municipalities at the beginning of May. The feedback from the municipalities is constantly being incorporated into the further rollout, and the number of cards is increasing week after week. “Overall, the card has been very well received. No significant problems have arisen,” said Kirchner. In some cases, the desired administrative simplification has already occurred. “We are right on schedule.”
Preparations were also already underway for the third and final group with 39 other municipalities – including the state capital Munich. “The payment card system will be introduced throughout Bavaria by the end of the second quarter.” The amount to which asylum seekers are legally entitled, which was previously paid out in cash, is now paid via the payment card. This can be used to make purchases in all stores that accept Mastercard. Up to 50 euros per person per month can be withdrawn in cash. The card is intended to limit the abuse of benefits and, as a result, immigration.
However, the procedure is not without controversy. Associations such as the Refugee Council doubt that refugees come to Germany because of the cash benefits and transfer significant amounts to their families abroad during their process. Bavaria is going its own way with the rollout of the payment card. The federal and state governments had already agreed a few months ago on the basic possibility of introducing it, but whether and how the states will then specifically implement it is not uniformly regulated. In addition to Bavaria, the city state of Hamburg also introduced a system on its own right at the beginning. There are already municipal variants in other countries.