Groupcard provided prepaid cards to Dutch municipalities for welfare recipients, informal carers and volunteers. Now it is bankrupt, the cards are worthless and consumers and municipalities have lost money. Associate Professor Jessie Pool is investigating whether vulnerable people need better protection in bankruptcies.
The main activity of the bankrupt Groupcard, a company based in Aalsmeer, was the sale of local gift cards. Acting on behalf of more than 120 municipalities, it issued gift cards to people who needed a bit of extra support, such as welfare recipients, informal carers and volunteers. Now the company has been declared bankrupt, these cards are useless. Vulnerable consumers, like other holders of gift cards, are last in…