Pilot project starts

Asylum payment card: Upper Austria a role model for the whole of Austria?

From July 1, asylum seekers in Upper Austria will receive a payment card.(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

It is due to start on July 1st: In a pilot project, 300 asylum seekers in Upper Austria are to be equipped with the new "benefits in kind card" based on a Visa debit card as a first step. In future, refugees will no longer receive cash, but will be able to pay for everyday goods by card - with one exception! 

There is a special arrangement in Upper Austria for holders of this type of card from the German manufacturer Publk GmbH, based in Bersenbrück in Lower Saxony, Germany: 40 euros of the 210 euros per month (7 euros per day) to which they are entitled can be withdrawn in cash at ATM terminals each month.

The card provider Publk uses this motif to advertise the Visa social card that refugees will receive in future.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Publk GmbH)

The reason for this: There are no ATMs in social markets or at social flea markets, where refugees like to shop. The state's social welfare department initially did not want to allow this option, but under pressure from Volkshilfe, which is taking part in the pilot project, Integration Councillor Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP) finally gave in. 

Multi-phase introduction
Together with Governor Thomas Stelzer and Red Cross President Walter Aichinger, Hattmannsdorfer presented the details of the planned introduction of the "Social Card". In phase 1, residents of Volkshilfe and Red Cross accommodation in the Steyr and Steyr-Land regions will be issued with a card. At the same time, the federal government will also start testing the card at its asylum facility in Bad Kreuzen in the Mühlviertel region. 

Phase 2 is due to start in the fall: the plan is to also provide refugees living in private accommodation with this payment card. Integration State Councillor Hattmannsdorfer sees his concept from Upper Austria as a model for implementation throughout Austria. It is possible that an Austria-wide roll-out will be possible at the beginning of 2025 based on the experiences in our province. 

"We are preventing abuse with the introduction"
Hattmannsdorfer says: "With the introduction of the benefits-in-kind card for refugees, we are sending an unmistakable signal, preventing abuse such as the payment of smugglers and simplifying the processes for the organizations making payments. I would like to thank the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Agency for Care and Support Services for their constructive cooperation, which enabled the rapid start of the pilot operation.

Further details on the use of the new means of payment: the "Social Card" can only be used in Austria, and in future, grants such as school fees (twice 100 euros per year) and cash allowances for clothing will also be booked to the card. 

Red Cross President Walter Aichinger expects the organizational processes to be simplified. After all, written records and Excel lists are currently still being used, says the representative of the organization, which looks after around 1000 refugees in Upper Austria.

Stelzer: "People get the help they need"
Governor Thomas Stelzer says: "We naturally offer those fleeing war and terror protection, security and the necessary support here on site. However, this aid must not be misused. A benefits-in-kind card is a good, secure solution - people get the help they need with the certainty that the support will be used as intended."