Overview

• On July 15, Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the black-red coalition to embed a unified "Bezahlkarte" in the Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz to replace most cash allowances
• Fourteen German states including Bavaria have rolled out or piloted prepaid benefit cards with monthly cash withdrawal limits and bans on international or online transfers
• The system is designed to streamline benefit distribution and stop asylum seekers from sending money to smugglers or relatives abroad
• Bavaria’s Minister President Markus Söder has endorsed a nationwide rollout, reinforcing CDU and CSU support for the measure
• Merz defended temporary border controls as a limited response to a nearly 50 percent drop in asylum applications and called for an EU-level solution to safeguard Schengen rules