- What's the status of the payment card for asylum seekers?
It's still unclear when the payment card for asylum seekers** will be introduced nationwide. Preparations are ongoing, even after a ruling from Hamburg on the fixed cash limit on the chip card. The district of Märkisch-Oderland in Brandenburg has already issued payment cards to around 1,000 asylum seekers, who now receive state benefits for living expenses as credit on the card instead of a check. The federal government and most states agreed to introduce the payment card, but there have been delays in the tendering process.
The County Council in Brandenburg sees no reason to change course after the Hamburg Social Court ruling on the payment card for refugees. "We will stick to the criteria we have set," said Holger Obermann, First Deputy Chairman of the County Council, to dpa.
According to these criteria, adult asylum seekers can withdraw a maximum of 50 euros in cash from their chip card balance per month, with the cash limit for children set at 25 euros. However, this design is controversial. The green-led Social and Integration Ministry in Potsdam criticized the restriction to this cash limit and hopes that the ruling will restart the conversation on this topic.
The Hamburg Social Court decided that fixed cash limits on the payment card are not suitable for covering the additional needs of, for example, pregnant women or families with young children. The social authority responsible for the card must consider the personal living circumstances of the applicants, and fixed limits do not allow for this, a court spokeswoman said. Moreover, the court decided that the payment card itself is not objectionable.
Preparations for the payment card continue
"Local authorities and the State Chancellery are preparing for the introduction of the payment card," said Obermann from the County Council. However, there are delays in the award of contracts for the nationwide introduction, as announced in mid-July. The reason for this is objections from companies in the tendering process, as the responsible company Dataport in Hamburg announced.
"We are optimistic that this will happen very soon," Obermann said. In May, the chairman of the County Council, Landrat Siegurd Heinze (independent) from the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, had expected that the cards would be issued from autumn.
Dataport was commissioned with the tendering procedure for the planned cross-border cashless payment system for refugees. 14 of the 16 federal states had agreed on this at the end of January. Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are going their own ways. The card is intended, among other things, to prevent money payments to smugglers or families in the home countries, to relieve municipalities in administration, and to reduce the incentive for irregular migration.
Online transfers are also to be possible
According to the Brandenburg County Council, it should also be possible to make online transfers with the card - but not unlimited. For this purpose, there should be a catalog - so-called black and white lists (i.e., a black and white list) - according to which transfers abroad and gambling, for example, are not possible, but the Germany ticket can be paid online, as reported.
The SPD, being a political party in Germany, has expressed concerns about the cash limit on the payment card for asylum seekers. They believe that this restriction might hinder the integration process and hope to reopen the conversation on this topic.
Despite the controversies, the SPD-led Social and Integration Ministry in Potsdam supports the idea of the payment card, which is currently being prepared by local authorities and the State Chancellery across Germany, led by the SPD-affiliated County Council in Brandenburg.
