Refugee payment card now in all of Hesse: what it means in Frankfurt

Hesse’s payment card for asylum seekers, the Bezahlkarte, is now issued in every district and independent city in the state, including Frankfurt. In Frankfurt, only newly assigned refugees receive it; people who were already getting benefits keep their current arrangements, hessenschau reports.

What happened

According to hessenschau, the public broadcaster hr’s regional news service, the Hessian Sozialministerium (Ministry of Social Affairs) said on Thursday that the Bezahlkarte is now in use in all Landkreise (rural districts) and kreisfreie Städte (cities that are not part of a district). All 28 local benefits authorities in Hesse now use the system.

The card is a blue VISA debit card. The state issued the first cards in December 2024 at the Erstaufnahmeeinrichtung (initial reception centre) in Gießen, and local authorities then joined one by one. The ministry says 12,531 cards were active across Hesse on 2 October.

Marburg was the last to join. After a test phase, the city started on Wednesday 21 October. Since then, the city says, only two people with a card have been assigned to it from the Gießen reception centre. Hanau and the Werra-Meißner-Kreis also started this month. Hanau has issued eight cards since 1 October.

Frankfurt also had a delayed start. The city’s specialist software could not connect to the state’s system at first. The city says the card has worked reliably since August.

What it means for you

The change applies to people who receive asylum seeker benefits in Hesse. Here is what the source says about how it works:

• In Frankfurt, only new arrivals get the card. The city gives the Bezahlkarte only to newly assigned refugees. Existing cases, known as Bestandsfälle, will not be moved onto it.
• Each local authority decides about existing cases. Municipalities can choose whether to give the card to people who already receive benefits. The state does not record how many existing recipients still have no card.
• Cash is limited. In principle, cardholders can withdraw no more than 50 euros in cash per month. Individual exceptions are possible.
• No transfers abroad. You cannot use the card to send money to another country.
• Benefits can be frozen. The Landkreis Fulda says it can stop payments immediately and take back any remaining balance in cases of unauthorised absence or deportation.

If you are newly assigned to Frankfurt, expect to receive your benefits on the card. If you already receive benefits in Frankfurt, the city says your case will not be switched. If you need more cash than the 50-euro limit allows, ask your benefits office whether you qualify for an individual exception, since the source says exceptions are possible. If you have moved or been assigned elsewhere in Hesse, check with the local office there, because rules for existing cases differ from place to place.

Views on the card

Hesse’s Minister of Social Affairs, Heike Hofmann (SPD), told hr that the card had been introduced across Hesse in a way that is legally sound and free of discrimination. She said municipalities report that it reduces the workload of public offices and cuts red tape. The ministry says it knows of no fundamental technical or operational problems and has had no reports of structural difficulties with retailers.

Critics see it differently. Isse, a refugee from Darmstadt, used the card for almost six months in early 2025. He told hr that the cash limit made it hard to shop at flea markets or buy cheaper food. He also described having a card payment refused in a café while carrying no cash, and said it made him feel he was being treated like a criminal.

Hannah Kentouche of the initiative “Frankfurt sagt Nein zur Bezahlkarte” (Frankfurt says no to the payment card) told hr that the system limits refugees’ freedom to make their own decisions and stigmatises them. She said refugees are placed under general suspicion and that the card leads to discrimination. She also argued that it creates more bureaucracy, not less. The initiative wants the card scrapped and benefits paid without restrictions.

What to watch next

Hanau plans to give the card to people without their own bank account from November, and to move all existing benefit cases onto it step by step by July next year. Marburg says people who already received benefits there will not get a card for now. In Frankfurt, the Frankfurt initiative is still campaigning for the card to be abolished.

Source: hessenschau