Payment Cards for Asylum Seekers: Nexus of Financial and Migration Infrastructures

The increasing substitution of social benefits with vouchers or goods instead of cash has a long tradition in the US, dating back to the 19th century. Particularly in the case of social benefits for refugees, cash is increasingly seen as suspicious or dangerous. Against this background, a "payment card" or "social card" for asylum seekers was introduced in Germany in 2023 to replace cash payments. However, the aim of the payment card is not only to provide access to cashless transactions, but rather to restrict and monitor the payments and transactions of asylum seekers. For example, the payment card is intended to restrict money transfers, online shopping and cash withdrawals. Various solutions have been introduced in the past year, but in all cases it has been a prepaid debit card issued by payment services in cooperation with Visa or Mastercard. This places the payment card at the intersection of financial and migration infrastructures.

Payment service providers and policy makers suggest that the payment card is not only a financial infrastructure for asylum seekers or for monitoring migration, but could potentially be adapted to other areas such as social welfare, student grants/loans or services for the homeless. It seems that migration is serving as a testing ground for future financial and migration infrastructures, not only for the state but also for companies such as credit card providers.

What dynamics of social inequality and financial inclusion/exclusion of asylum seekers are created by the payment card? What does it mean for social welfare in general that payments are made through proprietary infrastructures? These questions will be explored through a document analysis of the policy process of implementing the card and qualitative interviews with payment and credit card providers, stakeholders from municipalities, NGOs and asylum seekers using the payment card