CRS ICT4D Conference

With cities' populations climbing, humanitarian crises are increasingly urban in nature.  Additionally, there has been a transition from handing out cash in emergencies to a focus on electronic payments, such as debit cards and mobile money.  Securing electronic payment services can take a relatively long period of time involving contract negotiation, card procurement, and modification of NGOs' internal financial systems to support electronic payments. As a result, e-transfers generally become a part of recovery activities and not the initial emergency response.  

Globally-accepted prepaid debit cards are one way to address the challenge of providing cash securely to disaster-affected populations in areas where markets continue to function and ATMs are available. This innovation makes a rapid, scalable, cash/market-based response feasible during the immediate relief phase of a disaster. A collaborative project between CRS and Caritas Jordan piloted the use of Visa SWIFT pre-paid cards for rent subsidies to refugees and Jordanians affected by the Syrian crisis. The pilot provided 150 Jordanian Dinar (JD) per month for three months to 298 vulnerable families in the cities of Madaba, Amman, and Fuhais. It was the first experience of using debit card or ATM technologies for most beneficiaries.

This presentation will focus on the lessons learned from the use of the pre-paid debit cards in an emergency response.  Benefits include that beneficiaries do not have to open bank accounts, cards work at any ATM accepting VISA, and authorized users can check activity on the cards, enabling immediate usage tracking and troubleshooting. Additionally, cards are loaded and activated by the program team, reducing delays typically experienced with local banking systems. Beneficiary information is also held by the implementing NGO, not the bank, increasing data protection and privacy options depending on contextual needs.