Federal Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer has long been calling for asylum seekers in Austria to receive benefits in kind instead of cash. In his recently presented "Austria Plan", benefits-in-kind vouchers or cards instead of cash are also discussed in several chapters. The time horizon for this, as for all measures in the plan: 2030.

Karner wants to present plan by June
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) wants to introduce the card system for asylum seekers earlier, following the German model. The decision on this lies with the federal states, as only benefits in kind are distributed in the federal care system anyway. Karner therefore wants to put a concrete proposal on the table at a meeting with the state refugee officers in June. "I will suggest to the provinces that we find a common approach here. From our point of view, it makes sense to switch from the current cash benefits to benefits in kind. This could work with a kind of check card," the minister told Der Standard.

Mikl-Leitner: Less cash, fewer migration incentives
On Thursday, Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) was the first state governor to declare that he wants a payment card for asylum seekers in Upper Austria. The state of Lower Austria also wants to provide more benefits in kind instead of cash benefits for basic care, as state governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner said on Friday. She brought benefit-in-kind cards or vouchers into play. If cash payments were restricted, there would be significantly fewer incentives for illegal migration, said Mikl-Leitner. There would also be fewer opportunities to transfer state support to the countries of origin.

"I think this makes absolute sense," explained Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) on the Ö1 "Morgenjournal" program on Friday. Benefits in kind are "an efficient way of ensuring that the money is used for what it is intended for", said Raab.

There is not much in the way of cash benefits
However, there is not much in the way of cash: firstly, there is pocket money, which can be granted by the federal states and amounts to a maximum of 40 euros per month in Lower Austria, for example. There is also a maximum clothing allowance of 150 euros per year. There is also a food allowance, which also varies from state to state and the amount varies depending on whether the accommodation is private or organized. In Upper Austria, it amounts to around 210 euros per month.

Greens warn of high administrative costs
However, a payment card would mean considerably more administrative work. After all, you need a service provider to process the payments and companies to accept the cards. This is why the Greens are also skeptical about their coalition partner's plan. "Practice has shown that benefits in kind do not bring any savings, but are much more expensive than cash benefits. This is because benefits in kind are associated with a higher administrative burden and high personnel and investment costs," Georg Bürstmayr, Green spokesperson for asylum policy, told Der Standard. In principle, however, there is nothing wrong with a cash card as long as it is ensured that it is processed by a reputable financial service provider and cash withdrawals are still possible, Bürstmayr emphasized.