How a new tech-based Swedish payments authority will fight grant fraud

In an effort to minimize grant fraud, the Swedish government is establishing a new authority to consolidate all payments from several agencies and services, and CIOs and IT leaders are central to its mission and success.

Due to an estimated $1.8 billion being paid out erroneously every year, the need for the government to act has become urgent, highlighting this payments channel and its robust oversight as an important weapon against organized crime.

The payments authority, which will come into effect in 2024, will control all payments from the Swedish Tax Agency’s tax account, and most payments from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish Pensions Agency and the Central Student Aid Board.

Anyone who receives payments from one of these authorities receives a transaction account that’s linked to their bank account, to which everything is secured, regardless of what grant or support it may be about. In this way, it’ll be more difficult to fraudulently obtain grants from several different authorities at the same time. 

“When organized crime exploits our security systems, it risks eroding the trust and legitimacy of our entire welfare,” says Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s Minister of Finance. “People should be able to trust that their tax money goes to what they are intended for and not in criminal pockets.”

The IT of the authority

The meticulous work is now underway to create the authority’s primary functions.

CIO, Fraud, Government, IT Strategy