Asylum seekers aged 14 and above will in future only receive 50 euros in cash in Bavaria. They should be able to use the payment card to buy food, clothing and hygiene products. Expenses for online shopping or gambling as well as transfers abroad or to third parties are excluded. The Bavarian government hopes that this will prevent the flow of money to smugglers. The use of the payment card can be technically limited so that it can only be used in the district where the refugee accommodation is located.
The pilot municipalities are the districts of Fürstenfeldbruck, Günzburg and Traunstein and the independent city of Straubing. By the end of the second quarter – i.e. the end of June at the latest – all asylum seekers in Bavaria should receive the payment card.
At the end of January, 14 of the 16 federal states agreed on common standards for payment cards and began preparing for the introduction. Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are separately introducing a payment card with partly different regulations.
A payment card has been being tested in Hamburg for the 14 countries since February, but it is only valid for asylum seekers in anchor centers. There was recently a dispute in the traffic light coalition over a nationwide legal regulation, with the SPD and FDP accusing the Greens of delays.
Söder said that he still sees no chance of legal action against the Bavarian card. “We assume that it is now legally secure.” Nevertheless, the federal government should now create the law in order to prevent possible lawsuits from the outset.
