Asylum seekers in Bavaria: Payment card brings Escape to Rappen!

The payment card was introduced across the country by the end of June 2024. By the end of March 2025, more than 70,000 of these cards were deployed. The Bavarian CSU and the state government argue that this measure serves to reduce money transfers abroad by asylum seekers and to reduce incentives for immigration to Germany. The background to this measure is a certain distrust of the use of money that asylum seekers could use for migration or supporting tractors.

reactions and criticism

However, the introduction of the payment card is not considered sensible by everyone. Associations such as the Bavarian Refugee Council have violent criticism and see a form of dancing and discrimination in the payment card. They argue that the payment card makes participation in everyday life considerably more difficult, since the asylum seekers only have 50 euros in cash per month.

While, for example, 56 refugees tribute in the Eichsfeld, most of them probably towards Georgia and the Western Balkans, other voices are skeptical about a direct connection between the payment card and the exit or departure. The Thuringian Integration Commissioner Mirjam Kruppa expresses that the argument for the payment card should be regarded as immeasurable. Migration researcher Herbert Brücker also sees no sustainable positive effects and notes that the measure results in a higher administrative effort.

positive effects or restrictions?

While some district administrators, such as Werner Henning, report positive effects of the payment card, this is contrasting to the experiences of the Thuringian Refugee Council, which speaks of considerable restrictions for those affected. According to reports, the administrative effort could increase, while the possibilities for asylum seekers to participate in social life remain limited. The question of pricing by dealer, which could be favored by a possible monopoly position, is also under discussion.