Less excuses

Street newspaper can soon be paid for without cash

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

The Arge für Obdachlose is breaking new ground with the sale of the "Kupfermuckn": After the turn of the year, the street newspaper can also be paid for without cash. Because more and more often, sellers like 45-year-old Claudia are told: "I don't have any money with me."

Formerly homeless Claudia (45) has been selling the street newspaper "Kupfermuckn" in the center of Linz for 20 years. However, business has declined since the pandemic and circulation has halved to around 18,000 per issue compared to pre-coronavirus.

New challenges
The sales clerk also faces another problem: "It often happens that people don't have any cash with them," says Claudia. That's why they're breaking new ground from 2025, because in future the street newspaper can also be paid for digitally. How does that work? "All sellers will receive a QR code on their ID card, and anyone who scans it will be redirected to the online store where they can pay and donate digitally," explains Daniela Warger, editor-in-chief of "Kupfermuckn".

Software from Vienna
The software for this comes from the Viennese street newspaper "Augustin", while the costs for ongoing operation are borne in equal parts by the Upper Austrian Department of Social Affairs and Energie AG. What remains the same is that half of the sales revenue goes to colporteurs like Claudia.

ID cards more forgery-proof
"That just means a little more work for us, as we have to settle accounts in cash and digitally," says Warger. The new ID cards also have another advantage: they are more forgery-proof and therefore counteract the problem of unauthorized sellers.