Federal Council approves payment card for asylum seekers

After months of discussion at the federal level, the Federal Council has now approved the payment card for asylum seekers. The change in the law has thus cleared the final hurdle. The card already exists in some countries.

After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat has now also decided on the legal basis for a payment card for refugees. The map was controversial in the traffic light coalition for a long time, but was approved by the Federal Council without much debate. The states in particular had pushed for the change in the law.

In the future, the payment card will be used to load part of the state benefits of asylum seekers onto the card as credit. The credit should then be able to be used, for example, to pay for groceries in the supermarket.

Fewer payments with cash

However, the ability to withdraw cash will be restricted. Transfers abroad are also no longer possible. Among other things, the new system is intended to prevent migrants from transferring money to smugglers or family and friends abroad.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser wants to use the card to reduce smuggling crime, and at the same time she hopes to ease the burden on the administration through the planned improvement in data exchange between the authorities. Sharp criticism comes from social associations. They fear that refugees will be harassed and discriminated against.

Introduction not mandatory

Last November, the federal and state governments agreed on the payment card. Some federal states have already introduced the card at the state level – but the states and municipalities are not obliged to do so. You can decide for yourself whether you want to use the card and what the specific design looks like.