Germany's parliamentary groups of the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens have agreed on a draft for a nationwide legal basis for the introduction of a payment card for refugees, the SPD, Greens and junior coalition partner the Free Democrats (FDP) said.
The draft states that the payment card is a suitable means of preventing money payments to people smugglers, for example.
Earlier, state leaders largely agreed on a new common standard to be introduced in summer, according to which Germany will provide at least some welfare benefits for asylum seekers on pre-loaded cards instead of cash.
The switch is partly intended to prevent migrants from transferring welfare benefits back to relatives or friends in their home country, an issue that has been raised by some German politicians.
It should also streamline the distribution of benefits and ease the administrative burden on local government authorities.