Prepaid Financial Services, a provider of e-money and banking solutions, is rolling out a government-sponsored prepaid card program for refugees and asylum seekers in Europe.
The company plans to distribute prepaid MasterCard cards at immigration processing centers that would allow claimants to receive funds instantly and directly from the government. It also aims to eliminate the need to distribute cash, which can put asylum seekers in positions of vulnerability, making them targets for theft.
PFS chief executive Noel Moran framed the program in a Jan. 26 news release as one that would not just simplify how refugees receive money but allow governments to better monitor spending activity across the European Union.
PFS provides prepaid cards to asylum seekers through a number of U.K. local governments as well as 20 countries across the Single Euro Payments Area zone. The platform includes monitoring, reporting and auditing tools with which government clients can manage funds disbursements and activity.
"We want to continue to work closely with national governments, as refugees will inevitably move across Europe and therefore not necessarily remain in the same country as their card was issued," Moran said in the release.
