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<p>Service Users were notified of the transition to the new Aspen cards well in advance
of the transition and a significant majority of service users have now successfully
received and activated their new card. For those who are not in receipt of an activated
card and for any service user who required an emergency cash payment, funds were issued
to cover the period until a new card arrives and / or it is successfully activated.</p><p>Additionally,
accommodation providers are conducting welfare checks in which they will ensure those
eligible for asylum support payments have received their new card and they understand
how to activate it. We will continue to share data with our providers to ensure they
prioritise the appropriate welfare/safeguarding checks.</p><p>Prepaid Financial Services
(PFS) continue to support the Home Office in rolling out new ASPEN cards to asylum
accommodation addresses. They have recently amended processes to ensure service users
have increased opportunities to activate cards or avoid card cancellations. They have
also agreed to facilitate bulk issue of cards to accommodation blocks to ensure activation
for particular user groups.</p><p>Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) were awarded the
contract for a new prepaid card service following an open and competitive tendering
process which included due diligence checks. The Home Office utilised a Crown Commercial
Services (CCS) Framework with 4 suppliers to conduct the tendering exercise and in
total, three suppliers on the Framework (including Prepaid Financial Services) made
a bid for the Support Payments Card (SPC) contract.</p><p>The Prepaid Financial Services
(PFS) solution is a well-established Mastercard pre-paid card used by organisations
across the UK as well as abroad in schemes involving refugees and vulnerable persons.
The Home Office systems underwent 5 months of rigorous testing to integrate with Home
Office systems incorporating technical and operational scenarios.</p><p>The programme
utilised a number of data sources and the operation is managing implementation through
internal databases therefore we do not currently have the people we support broken
down by a particular category. Whilst, we are satisfied the majority have activated
cards, we continue to provide direct access to the Home Office for local authorities
via Strategic Migration Partnerships and third sector partners to ensure payments
to those with vulnerabilities are prioritised.</p>
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