Product: givve Card Meal Subsidy

The givve Card Meal Subsidy is a prepaid Mastercard designed to provide meal subsidies to employees in a tax-compliant manner. Companies can use it to digitally provide meal subsidies and ensure they are used exclusively for meals. The meal allowance of €7.67 (as of 2026) can be granted for use on up to 15 working days per month within a specified region and serves as an employee benefit to promote motivation and satisfaction.

Category: Financial product based on a prepaid credit card

Product launch: 2025

Legal basis: 

• R 8.1(7)(4) of the (LStR): Valuation of cafeteria meals and meal vouchers as non-cash benefits.

• § 8(2)(6) EStG: Valuation of income that is not in the form of cash.

• § 17(1) Sentence 1 No. 4 SGB IV: Valuation of income that is tax-exempt and does not qualify as wages.

• § 2(1), (2) SvEV: Determination and composition of meals considered as non-cash benefits.

• BMF Letter dated January 18, 2019: Employers may use electronic procedures for document verification.

givve Hub: The givve Hub is the central management platform for administering the givve Card meal subsidy. givve customers (e.g., employers or public institutions) can use it to order cards, initiate card top-ups, view invoices, and perform other tasks.

givve App: The givve App is available to all users of the givve Card meal subsidy. Here, users can view their card balance and recent transactions, as well as adjust settings. The givve App is available for Android and iOS and in more than 20 languages.

Card Material: High-quality PVC containing approximately 15–20% recycled plastic with silver embossing.

Payment Network: Mastercard provides the payment network for the givve Meal subsidy Card.

Processor: Thredd Group Limited manages all operations and payment processes—as well as their oversight—for Mastercard® and, consequently, for the givve Card Meal subsidy.

Card Issuer: Exceet Card Group AG is the card issuer for the givve Card Meal subsidy. Exceet is a technology company specializing in electronics and security systems. 

Acceptance Network: The givve Card meal subsidy can be used for payment within a specified region at all restaurants (including fast-food), snack bars, eateries, and cafés, as well as bakeries and butcher shops, and at selected delivery services and supermarkets. The specified region comprises a 2-digit ZIP code district and all immediately adjacent 2-digit ZIP code districts. The region can be set for each card.

Distributor: PL Gutscheinsysteme GmbH distributes the givve Card meal subsidy on behalf of an e-money issuer and is therefore an e-money agent pursuant to Section 2(1)(4) of the German Money Laundering Act (GwG). 

E-money issuer of the givve Mastercard®: The givve Mastercard® distributed by givve is issued by DiPocket UAB (authorized by the Financial Supervisory Authority in Lithuania) under license from Mastercard International Incorporated. DiPocket UAB is headquartered in Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania.

Mobile Payment: The givve Card subsidy can be integrated into mobile wallets such as Google Pay or Apple Pay. 

The givve Card meal subsidy is loaded by the employer via the givve Hub with a meal subsidy. Employees can use the credit for meals within a defined region. Use is limited to specific merchant categories (Merchant Category Codes, or MCCs) such as restaurants, cafés, or bakeries in order to comply with tax requirements.

The givve Card meal subsidy is:

• a meal subsidy card

• a prepaid Mastercard

• an employee benefit

• a controlled-loop payment solution

For Employers:

• Tax-optimized implementation of the meal subsidy

• Secure and compliant with the law

• Digital and automated administration

• Attractive benefit to boost employee retention

   

For Employees:

• Meal subsidy on 15 business days (including for remote workers)

• Wide selection of participating locations

• Easy to use via card or mobile payment

Meal subsidies are among the most popular employee benefits in Germany. Digital solutions like the givve Card meal subsidy make it easy to implement them in the workplace in a way that is both legally compliant and flexible.

No restaurant voucher: The givve Card meal subsidy is not a traditional restaurant voucher in the form of a paper coupon that can only be redeemed at partner restaurants, but rather a prepaid card that can be used to pay at any restaurant in the Mastercard network within a selected region.

Not the givve Lunch App: The givve Card meal subsidy is a card-based solution based on an advance payment by the employer to implement the meal subsidy for employees. This is a different product type than the now-discontinued givve Lunch App, which was used for retroactive reimbursement of meal subsidy costs.

No cafeteria: The givve Card Meal Subsidy does not offer a cafeteria, but its acceptance can be extended to existing company-owned cafeterias if desired.

Not a non-cash benefit card: The givve Card Meal Subsidy is specifically intended for meals and differs from general benefits cards.

Please note: *We do not provide legal or tax advice. If you have any tax or legal questions regarding our products, we recommend that you have them reviewed by your tax or legal advisor. If you wish to use givve’s products to achieve specific tax and social security objectives (e.g., provision of non-cash benefits), we also recommend obtaining a preliminary ruling from the relevant tax office. givve assumes no liability for your actually achieving the intended tax and social security consequences.