Exchange a voucher for cash
You get the payment card and only 50€ cash per month? If you need more cash, then let's swap!
- Buy a voucher in the stores Aldi, Lidl, Edeka, Kaufland, Penny, Rewe or DM for 50€
- Take the voucher to an exchange point!
Here you can get cash for the vouchers.
Where?
Bürgerbüro Die Linke
Theodor-Körner-Str. 7
69115 Heidelberg
Best reached by public transport from the stops Betriebshof and Hauptbahnhof
When?
Every 2nd Tuesday and every 3rd Friday of the month from 17:00 to 19:00.
Voucher issues
Are you in solidarity with people with a payment card and would like to take part in our campaigns? Get your shopping voucher at one of our distribution points.
Bürgerbüro Die Linke
Theodor-Körner-Str. 7
69115 Heidelberg
Monday 09:00 - 13:00
Tuesday 10:00 - 14:00
Wednesday 13:00 - 18:00
Café Gegendruck
Fischergasse 2
69117 Heidelberg
Sunday 20:00 at the KüFa (vegan food on a donation basis)
Basement Bikes
Werftstraße 29
68159 Mannheim
During regular opening hours
Depending on availability, there are usually vouchers from Aldi, Lidl, Edeka, Kaufland, Penny, Rewe or DM for 50€
Stop the payment card!
In Heidelberg and the Rhine-Neckar district, the discriminatory "payment card" will be introduced in the foreseeable future for all refugees who receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act. Behind the decision to introduce the payment card is a racist policy that seeks to further restrict the lives of refugees and seal Europe off from the Global South. We oppose the restrictive payment card and want to make solidarity a reality!
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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:
- People with a payment card buy a shopping voucher at the supermarket
- When exchanging vouchers, they receive the value of the voucher in cash
- 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:
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
Open letter
Dear Mayor Jansen, Dear members of the Committee for Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities,
We are shocked and bewildered by the gradual introduction of the payment card for people receiving asylum seeker benefits in Baden-Württemberg. Due to the many discriminatory, restrictive and exclusionary aspects of the payment card, we oppose its introduction in Heidelberg.
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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
Contact & Donate
We are an open structure and meet regularly to coordinate further steps. Are you interested in taking action against the payment card? Then come to one of our next meetings or get in touch with us.
Contact us
Donate
Röm.-Kath.
Kirchengemeinde Heidelberg
DE77 6725 0020 0001 2061 76
Zweck: Gutschein 2813
The purpose is important, otherwise the donation cannot be assigned!