Greiz district tests payment card for refugees
The district of Greiz is testing the first payment cards for refugees from December. Initially, around 30 people will receive a prepaid card, which will be topped up with around 400 to 500 euros per month, as District Administrator Martina Schweinsburg (CDU) said in Erfurt on Friday. The refugees will receive a further 100 euros in cash. As of January 1, all 750 asylum seekers in the district will receive the cards instead of the cash payments that have been made to date.
Schweinsburg said that they will be able to make purchases wherever payment with Mastercard is accepted. The individualized card can only be used in the East Thuringian region.
Less administrative effort
The administrative costs are significantly lower than for monthly cash payments. Due to the sometimes large sums involved in a single payment, this was sometimes carried out under police protection, said Schweinsburg. The costs are also manageable: a card costs the district three to six euros, a top-up costs one euro.
No cash payments or bank transfers are possible with the card. Even if products are returned, the money is not paid out in cash, but credited back to the card, said the district administrator. The district administration could load, unload or, if necessary, block the cards.
Last week, the federal and state governments agreed on the introduction of a payment card. Proposals for uniform nationwide minimum standards are to be drawn up by the end of January. The use of such payment cards is intended to prevent people seeking protection from transferring money from state support in Germany to relatives and friends in their country of origin.
System can be changed quickly
Schweinsburg assured that the system could be changed quickly should the federal government impose different requirements than those introduced in Greiz. "We just don't want to wait until others have thought things through and then start."
In Thuringia, the Saale-Orla district was also recently interested in introducing such a card. However, the experiences in Greiz should be awaited first. Schweinsburg announced that he would be able to present initial results by mid-January.
State Chancellery Leader Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (Left Party) had recently said that it was good that the Greiz district was testing a payment card system to gain experience. In future, however, it would be against "local isolated solutions."
The introduction of payment cards for refugees in Greiz municipalities is expected to reduce administrative costs, as monthly cash payments sometimes required police protection and having high costs. Once the new system is implemented, all 750 asylum seekers in the district will receive these cards instead of cash payments.
Source: www.dpa.com
