Rhineland-Palatinate: New payment card for refugees should promote integration!

Rhineland-Palatinate: New payment card for refugees should promote integration!

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the introduction of a payment card for refugees is further forced. According to reports from ludwigshafen24.de have been initiated. This payment card should enable targeted use of cash and reduce the administrative effort. This opens a new chapter in the support of migrants.

The payment card has been used in the recording facilities since mid -March. Adult, single, single asylum seekers receive 196 euros per month, whereby 130 euros can be lifted in cash. A positive list was set for the use of the payment card, which includes rent payments, public transport tickets and cell phone contracts. General transfers and payments on your own accounts are excluded. Technical challenges are no longer considered an obstacle, and a connection to the nationwide system could be done in the current quarter.

preparations and pilot phase

The municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate are preparing for the introduction of the payment card. Integration Minister Katharina Binz has made it clear that participation in this system is free to free the cities and counties. A first pilot phase for the payment card begins on January 13, 2025 in the Trier recording facility, where 50 to 80 participants are to be selected. The phase is set to four to six weeks, and after the test phase, the knowledge should flow into the further steps.

For the payment card, an IBAN is set up when registering asylum seekers, to which state support is booked directly. This measure is part of a larger goal: to prevent cash payments to smugglers and relieve the municipalities. Within the remaining federal states, 14, with the exception of Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, are interested in a uniform system.

flexibility in implementation

The concept behind the payment card takes into account the different life and living situations of asylum seekers, the rigid regulation of a cash payment of 50 euros is considered insufficient. Therefore, the monthly cash amount of 130 euros is described as flexible and adapted annually to the performance rates of the Asylum Seekers' Performance Act (AsylbLG), such as

At a press appointment on January 17, 2025 in the Trier recording facility, the payment card is to be officially presented in order to present the project to a wider audience. The introduction will take place in close cooperation with the municipalities that have the free decision to participate.