HACSU is aware Life Without Barriers is trialing the “CardHero” payment app in a number of houses.

CardHero is a prepaid Mastercard installed on a worker’s phone alongside a matching smartphone app. Residents receive a physical card. LWB intends this to replace the Westpac cards and Excel CEMT template.

We have serious concerns regarding the rollout of this program, and we are calling on Life Without Barriers to pause this pilot until the concerns of union members are addressed.

We support changes to simplify tracking expenses, but such a change cannot infringe on members' workplace or privacy rights.

It is HACSU’s position that you should not be forced to use your personal phone for work, especially to place a corporate payment card in your digital wallet alongside your personal payment cards.

Owning a smartphone with Apple Pay or Google Pay is not a condition of your employment at LWB, and not all members have such a phone. There are also potential security risks that have also not been adequately addressed.

Additionally, the pilot has seen workers have to phone another worker to come to the shops to pay for them when there were issues with the CardHero app.

We are meeting with Life Without Barriers on Thursday 18 August to discuss these issues.

If this rollout is occurring at your worksite and you are experiencing any issues, please contact LWB Statewide Organiser, John Creamer at johnc@hacsu.asn.au