The introduction of the payment card for asylum seekers has triggered an intense debate in Germany. The new system is intended to make the payment of social benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act more efficient and prevent abuse. Instead of cash or vouchers, asylum seekers and AsylbLG recipients will now receive a credit on a specially equipped debit card, which they can use to make purchases.
The aim of the payment card is to reduce administrative costs and limit expenditure in order to guarantee the purpose of the benefits, e.g. to cover basic needs. However, the implementation and the restrictions associated with the payment card are the subject of controversial debate.
While politicians emphasize the advantages of the payment card, such as the containment of smuggling crime or the simplification of administrative processing, many disadvantages become clear at the same time. For example, the card can often only be used to a limited extent, which considerably restricts the financial autonomy of those affected. In addition, the limited acceptance in stores and services leads to practical problems.
Possible data protection risks and the danger of stigmatizing asylum seekers are also criticized, as the card is easily recognizable to others as a symbol of their particular status group. These areas of tension between efficiency, control and respect for human dignity make the payment card a highly topical and controversial issue.
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Following political discussions in 2023, the federal states and the federal government decided in November 2023 to introduce a payment card for asylum seekers.
With this payment card, the benefits to which asylum seekers are entitled are no longer paid out in cash, or not in full, but transferred to the payment card as a credit balance. Although the payment card looks like a giro card, it is not.
The payment card is a special debit card that is not accepted everywhere. As the card is not connected to the Girocard payment system, the payment card can only be used to pay where this form of payment is accepted and corresponding readers are available. If a supermarket, retailer, swimming pool or other service provider where payment can be made does not offer this form of payment, refugees will not be able to pay there with the card.
As retailers and service providers have to pay higher fees for this form of payment, many retailers and service providers therefore do not accept the payment card. For asylum seekers, this means that they will not be able to pay with the payment card everywhere.
The Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz ) regulates the benefits that secure the livelihood of persons in the asylum procedure, with a tolerated stay or those obliged to leave the country in the form of cash or non-cash benefits. Although the benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act are sufficient to secure a person's livelihood, they are below the level of the citizen's allowance(SGB II).
The legal basis for the use of the payment card was created in April 2024 in the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG). The amendment to the law came into force on 16.05.2024. The payment card was included as a further form of benefit and the possible uses were expanded so that refugees in shared accommodation can now also receive the payment card.
However, the payment card for asylum seekers is subordinate. Anyone living in shared accommodation should have their needs covered primarily by benefits in kind; anyone living outside shared accommodation should have their needs covered primarily by cash benefits.
Politicians see several advantages in the payment card for asylum seekers, particularly in terms of efficiency, control and security. One key advantage is said to be administrative simplification. The cash payment of asylum seeker benefits or the issue of vouchers for benefits in kind is associated with a high administrative burden for the authorities.
The introduction of the payment card is intended to digitize this process and thus save time and money. The services are to be managed centrally and regularly loaded onto the cards without the need for time-consuming cash payments or manual billing.
Another advantage is better control of the benefits paid out. With the payment card, expenditure can be made more transparent and, if necessary, limited to certain products or services.
This is to ensure that the benefits serve their actual purpose, namely to cover daily needs such as food or hygiene products. The aim is to prevent the money from being paid to people smugglers, for example, in order to bring family members to Germany illegally.
The introduction of the cash card also pursues migration policy objectives in order to curb smuggling. Remittances to the country of origin are also no longer possible via this route, even if they are intended to support one's own family. The payment card is also intended to reduce the incentive for illegal migration, although experts doubt this.
The security aspect also plays an important role. The payment card reduces the risk of theft or loss of cash, which is particularly important for asylum seekers in precarious situations. Unlike cash, the card can be blocked and replaced if lost, which offers additional security.
Finally, the card is also seen as a modern and flexible system that can be adapted to the needs of benefit recipients and administrative requirements. From a political perspective, the payment card therefore represents a progressive solution that is intended to optimize both the administration and processing of social benefits.
With the amendment to the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG), the legislator has created the possibility of introducing the payment card as a form of benefit. However, the federal legislator has not made any concrete specifications as to how the card should be regulated in detail and what functions the card should have. It is up to the federal states to decide how to implement the payment card and what functions it should have.
Some federal states, with the exception of Hamburg and Bavaria, have agreed that the majority of benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (AsylbLG) should only be transferred to the payment card. Only a small portion, generally a maximum of 50 euros per month and person for adults, is to be paid out to asylum seekers in cash.
Transfers are not possible with the payment card, not even from one payment card to another. The payment card should be valid nationwide, although the federal states can restrict the payment function regionally. This means that the card can only be used to pay in a certain zip code area or only with the little cash that can be withdrawn. The payment card can also be blocked for certain sectors or goods (e.g. tobacco products, alcohol or gambling).
The payment card and its planned design have met with fundamental criticism from many associations and refugee councils. On the one hand, there is already criticism that the issue of the payment card with its restrictions represents unequal and disadvantageous treatment of the group of asylum seekers and other beneficiaries under the AsylbLG.
This is because one group of people is being treated unequally to another group of people, namely those whose asylum procedure has already been positively concluded, for no objective reason. All the reasons cited by politicians, such as curbing illegal migration, reducing incentives to come to Germany, simplifying administration, reducing the administrative burden or saving costs, are mostly pretexts and are rightly questioned by experts.
In particular, the reduction of the administrative burden and the associated costs already appears questionable. As the first urgent decisions from Hamburg show, the blanket restriction of cash withdrawals to 50 euros per person per month is likely to be unlawful. Instead, the authorities must examine the cash requirements of individual beneficiaries on a case-by-case basis.
Furthermore, it is already doubtful for legal reasons whether the priority issue of payment cards and thus the priority granting of benefits via payment cards is at all in line with the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.
Even if, according to the provisions of the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, the granting of benefits in cash and in kind were of equal priority to the payment card form of benefit, the issuing and granting of benefits by means of payment cards would not be regarded as having priority.
Even when choosing the form of benefit, the authority would instead have to exercise its discretion in individual cases and decide for which persons the payment card should primarily be used. However, this would again entail a not inconsiderable administrative burden, so that this reason for introducing the payment card is also unlikely to exist.
However, the NRW state government's draft amendment to the AsylbLG Implementation Act(NRW state parliament, printed matter 18/10926) from October 2024 defines the payment card as the primary form of benefit, which does not appear to be compatible with the current version of the AsylbLG.
The payment card restricts the financial autonomy of asylum seekers.
As it is often restricted to certain products and services, those affected cannot dispose of their money freely; this earmarking leaves no scope for individual priorities or needs, which can be perceived as paternalism. Compared to other welfare recipients, asylum seekers therefore have less freedom to manage their money themselves, which reinforces the feeling of unequal treatment.
Another disadvantage is the limited usability of the card. Acceptance points are often limited to certain stores that are connected to the system. This means that asylum seekers cannot shop everywhere, which can lead to limited choice and logistical challenges, particularly in rural areas.
Online shopping or smaller providers often do not accept the payment card either. In some cases, even public facilities such as swimming pools or points of sale for public transport tickets do not accept the cash card, which can also lead to organizational problems.
The presumably unlawful restriction on cash withdrawals makes the lives of asylum seekers more expensive and presents them with practical problems. Especially for people who live below the constitutionally required subsistence level, buying second-hand goods is a way to save costs.
Buying second-hand clothes, a bicycle or furniture is hardly possible if you only have 50 euros in cash per month. However, it is also usually not possible to buy second-hand goods and clothing in social department stores or second-hand stores with the payment card, as these stores do not accept the payment card due to the additional costs, meaning that purchases can only be made with cash here too.
Further practical problems arise from the fact that bank transfers are generally not possible. Anyone who wants to take out a cell phone contract, the Deutschlandticket or other contracts cannot take advantage of such offers.
Even if children's meals at school or daycare or a school trip are to be paid for by bank transfer or other digital transfer methods, asylum seekers and AsylbLG recipients are excluded from this. Even legal protection is made more difficult if asylum seekers and AsylbLG recipients cannot even transfer the installments for their lawyer.
The payment card raises data protection concerns. As transactions are recorded digitally, users' purchasing behavior could be monitored and evaluated. This can lead to a feeling of control and surveillance. Even if data protection standards are adhered to, there is still mistrust of possible intrusions into privacy. It should also be technically possible for the authorities to monitor where asylum seekers and AsylbLG recipients shop, what they spend money on or where they spend time.
Even if so-called whitelists, i.e. individual activations for transfers by the authorities, were introduced, the authorities would generally require justifications and particularly sensitive personal data in order to approve the activation. However, there can be no question of administrative simplification or cost savings here either.
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