Why do we reject the payment card?

The payment card interferes with the autonomy of refugees and restricts their participation in everyday life. In the Rhine-Neckar district, there will be a cash limit of €50. It is to be expected that there will also be a similar restriction in Heidelberg. Bank transfers, online purchases and contracts are not possible or only possible with a great deal of effort. Many areas of life require cash: e.g. smaller stores, weekly markets, flea markets or cultural events. All of this is restricted by the payment card.

Even if the payment card looks similar to a debit card, its possible uses are much more limited, as the card only works in specific stores. And if those affected want to put money aside to financially support their family abroad despite the limited benefits, this is made much more difficult. The card is problematic in terms of data protection. The payment card offers the authorities insights and opportunities for control.

What do we intend to do?

In Heidelberg, we do not want to accept this discriminatory and exclusionary card and want to show solidarity with those affected.

We are joining forces locally to oppose the restrictions of the payment card. Following the example of many other initiatives nationwide, we also want to organize a voucher exchange in Heidelberg and the surrounding area.

The principle:

1. People with a payment card buy a shopping voucher at the supermarket
2. When exchanging vouchers, they receive the value of the voucher in cash
3. Solidary people without a payment card receive the vouchers in exchange for cash

The exchange campaigns are not unlawful but a response to an allegedly unconstitutional policy, as the basic rights of those affected are being violated and the cash cap of €50 endangers the humane subsistence level. (Read more at: Stage victory in summary proceedings against restrictive payment card: PRO ASYL and GFF support complaining family | PRO ASYL)

How can you support us?

Feel free to contact us and/or come to our meetings if you...

• ... want to contribute your own perspectives
• ... want to support the organization of the exchange markets
• ... want to take on shifts at the swap meet
• ... can provide us with premises
• ... you are organized in rooms and you would be willing to give out shopping vouchers in your rooms
• ... can collectively take shopping vouchers from us, e.g. for your shared flat, your house project, your club...
• ... want to take part in a political campaign against these racist attacks
• ... want to support legal action against the payment card or simply if you want to get to know us or have questions.

We are also dependent on donations. We need a financial buffer for the exchange campaigns. We also need some money, for example for materials such as flyers or posters, smaller purchases such as lockable tills or barcode scanners or room rental for information events. Donation receipts can be issued.

In the event that the financial buffer is no longer needed, it will be donated to the following organizations:

• Sea-Watch e.V.
• ALARMPHONE
• Asylarbeitskreis Heidelberg e.V.
• Café Talk

This means that your donation will do good in any case.

For a world of solidarity!

What do supra-regional structures look like?

There are already initiatives against the payment card and exchange initiatives like ours in many cities. We are part of the nationwide network "Equal social rights for all!"(website, Instagram)

More information about us

• Scientific assessment of the payment card
  Baden-Württemberg Refugee Council
• Fewer and fewer rights for refugees
  Baden-Württemberg Refugee Council
• What you need to know about the new payment card for refugees
  Baden-Württemberg state parliament

1. People seeking protection in Heidelberg have an account just like anyone else. They can use the current account card to access their money. If they are not yet in employment, they initially receive benefits under the AsylbLG. In future, these are to be transferred to payment cards, with which both cash spending and transfers/debits are restricted. Objective: No transfers to own family and to traffickers, deterrence, reduction of "pull factors". This background for the payment card violates our fundamental rights: the prohibition of discrimination, the protection of the family, personal rights.
2. The payment card is an encroachment on personal rights. Refugees are thus being controlled. They may not be able to shop in their preferred stores because it is too expensive for small stores to set up a reader for debit cards. Transfers and direct debits require approval from the social welfare office. If there are special needs, an application must be made. 50 € cash is an amount that is subject to the discretion of the office. The allocation of the payment card itself is subject to discretion. This will not only place an additional burden on the administration, but will also make those affected monstrously dependent on the office, also because transparency is lost for them.
3. The aim of introducing the payment card will not be achieved anyway. The DIW's weekly report 49/2024 shows that only a very small proportion of foreign remittances come from refugees, and certainly the least from those who receive benefits under the AsylbLG, because these benefits (maximum €441) are even lower than the citizen's allowance and certainly do not meet the requirements set by the 2012 ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, according to which the minimum subsistence level should not be relativized in terms of migration policy. It also goes without saying that the reasons for flight outweigh the question of benefits.
4. The introduction of a restrictive payment card is part of a major attack on the rights of people seeking protection. The dismantling of the social rights of refugees goes hand in hand with the expansion of Fortress Europe and efforts to gradually rid themselves of their responsibility to protect refugees (Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, Article 14) and their obligations, not least in the form of the Geneva Refugee Convention. The far right has succeeded in developing a dominant discourse that views people seeking protection as nothing more than a threat. Unfortunately, this racist narrative has also been increasingly adopted by democratic parties for years. In doing so, they are driving processes of desolidarization and shifting the social discourse to the right. The payment card is nothing more than populist symbolic politics that serves racism and further marginalizes, discriminates against and controls those seeking protection. Integration looks different!
5. There is no alternative to the introduction of the payment card. NRW has introduced an opt-out regulation that allows local authorities not to introduce the payment card. Several large cities have already made use of this. But there is also resistance in Lower Saxony: although there is no opt-out regulation there, the city of Hanover has declared that it will not introduce the payment card and is thus confidently offering open resistance. A majority of the city council, including the CDU, SPD and Green parties, has declared that it will not introduce the card because it is discriminatory.

We call on the parliamentary groups of the Heidelberg municipal council and the administration to reject the discriminatory and pointless payment card in Heidelberg as well.

First signatories

• Bettina Bauer-Teiwes
• Angelika Binding
• Lothar Binding
• Dr. Gabriele Buschbeck
• Dr. Konrad Buschbeck
• Waseem Butt
• Ulrike Duchrow
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Duchrow
• Heidi Flassak
• Prof. Dr. Ute Gerhard
• Dr. Jörg Götz-Hege
• Gudrun Sidrassi-Harth
• Prof. Dr. Dietrich Harth
• Dr. Susanne Himmelheber
• Zara Dilan Kiziltas
• Margret Krannich
• Maria Kühn-Ludewig
• Prof. Dr. Wilfried Kühn
• Mia Lindemann
• Sahra Mirow
• Willi Morlock
• Jean-Michel Räber
• Hilde Stolz
• Prof. Dr. Ute Straub
• Nera Vukovic-Bringezu
• Jochen Winter (kath. Flüchtlingsseelsorger)
• Ulrich Wohland
• Bernd Zieger
• Antifaschistische Initiative Heidelberg
• Asylarbeitskreis Heidelberg e.V.
• Bezahlkarte stoppen! Heidelberg und Rhein-Neckar
• Chancen gestalten Heidelberg e.V.
• DIE ZEP
• FLINTA* KunstZimmer
• Frauen helfen Frauen e.V. Heidelberg
• Internationales Frauen- und Familienzentrum Heidelberg e.V.
• linksjugend ['solid] Heidelberg
• Schülis gegen Rechts Heidelberg
• Seebrücke Heidelberg
• Sozialistische Jugend – Die Falken Unterbezirk Heidelberg