Response to interpellation 2025/26:111 on a new mandate for the Swedish Payments Agency
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the Payment Authority's mandate and the decommissioning of a transaction account. 1 2 3 4 5 6 M considers that the authority is doing a fantastic job with data analysis to counter fraud and crime 1 3 4 6. M argues that the decommissioning of the transaction account is a wise measure because the risks outweigh the benefits 3 4 6. M considers that the investments are effective and that the government has made necessary reprioritizations 3 4. M works to stifle the criminal economy through population counting, reinforced controls against weapon fraud, and by tearing down secrecy barriers 6. S considers that the government has let 200 million kronor run out into nothing 2 5. S argues that it is irresponsible to start and then cancel a project for 200 million kronor 2. S considers that the Payment Authority is doing a fantastic job with stopping fraud 2 7. S argues that every wasted tax krona is a theft from the people 7 5. S wants to stop market failures that steal tax money from welfare 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! Ingela Nylund Watz has asked me if anything has changed since I made the assessment that the Swedish Payments Agency would have the responsibility for the so-called transaction account, or if there are any other reasons underlying the changed mandate for the Swedish Payments Agency. She has also asked me if I have taken into account the costs of around 200 million that have been spent on the development work in the decision on the changed mandate for the agency.
The Swedish Payments Authority, which this government has established, is doing a fantastic job of countering incorrect payments. So far this year, the authority's work has led to over 80 million kronor in recoveries and prevented future payments.
The Swedish Payments Authority's work against incorrect payments is carried out through data analysis and auditing. This can also occur without a transaction account system. The initiative to phase out the system is a result of the government, during the process, having listened to the central authorities who have pointed out significant risks with it. Not introducing the system also implies a saving of the state's resources.
When the interpellator reported that she was prevented from attending the meeting, the first deputy speaker granted that Eva Lindh (S) instead was allowed to participate in the interpellation debate.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! Over 200 million kronor – that is how much money the SD government has allowed to flow straight out into nothing.
I will start with what the question concerns so that everyone listening can follow. I will make a short summary.
The S-led government took the first steps towards a payment authority as early as 2018. We appointed the first inquiry, laid the foundation for coordinating the state's payments, and produced a systematic basis – step by step, order and clarity. In the spring of 2022, Mikael Damberg was still Finance Minister, and then we stated that this would happen, that is, that a payment authority will be established and that it is about seeking out abuse, fraud, and economic crime in the welfare system as well as preventing such things from occurring.
When the current government was appointed, a Tidö Agreement was entered into. It states there that the work with the Swedish Payments Agency shall continue. Good. We are in agreement there. But it also states in the Tidö Agreement that a transaction account shall be developed and administered by the agency. It is therefore the transaction account that we are discussing, not the importance of a payments agency. It is good, and we are in agreement. They are also doing a good job. Just as the Finance Minister told us, 80 million kronor have already been brought in to the state. That is good.
As has already been said, it is stated in the Tidö Agreement that a transaction account shall be established. When the Investigation on the establishment of the Payment Authority submitted its proposal in February 2023, it emerged that the transaction account would be cost-driving, not provide any significant effects, and lack clear added value. In other words: Do not do it because it will only cost a lot of money!
Despite this, the SD government pushed on. In Svenska Dagbladet, the Finance Minister and the Tidö parties promised that the system with the transaction account would be operational by 2027. They inaugurate the Payment Authority, hire staff, purchase consultants, build systems and spend over 200 million kronor on a transaction account – despite several having warned about the costs and that it provides no added value.
For two years, the Swedish Payments Agency has worked on this. Now, two years later, after all that work, the government is putting a full stop. The bill is at least 200 million kronor.
We Social Democrats have called the Minister for Finance to the committee to hear about this debacle, which one still must say it is. Why did they start something that their own investigators said was not needed and that relevant authorities advised against? What has changed now? Why this abrupt conclusion to something that has been dragged out for two years? One cannot – one must not – start a project for 200 million kronor and then say that it does not matter if one shuts it down. It is irresponsible.
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Eva Lindh, even though it is not she who has written the question. This is an important discussion that will surely interest many. One thing I have learned in this job is that one should do things step by step and carefully and be careful with the taxpayers' money.
The Swedish Payments Authority, which I had the privilege of establishing in January 2024, is an authority that is truly needed. It is an authority with many employees who do a fantastic job and have specialized expertise. Their task is, as Eva Lindh has also pointed out, to detect incorrect payments and fraud.
This is important for many reasons, including, of course, moral ones. We know that the Swedish welfare systems rely heavily on trust. They are strong and good, but sometimes, unfortunately, the trust is not there. There are people who exploit the systems to a higher or lower degree, but also grossly criminal individuals. We must put a stop to this, and that is exactly why the Swedish Payments Agency exists.
Part of the Swedish Payments Authority's area has been precisely the transaction account. It sounds like from Eva Lindh that it was completely given that one would never have continued working with it. For me, it was given to continue working with it. Different assessments are made. One naturally weighs pros and cons, added value, and risks when working with these types of areas. But it is also obvious, Mr. Speaker, that this is a large and important authority and that it must be done in the absolute best way.
Just briefly: The government did not implement the investigation's proposals entirely. Not even the organizing committee was fully established, but rather a variant of it. But along the way, as we work with this, we see that the risks that still exist carry more weight. The risks are too great to carry this all the way through. In that case, I think it is a very wise measure to hit the brakes.
I fully understand that Eva Lindh, if she had had my job, would never have ever done exactly this. I have great respect for that, and I take responsibility for every decision I make. I think this was well-considered, and I am glad that we have now pulled the brake.
With this said, will the work of the Swedish Pensions Agency change? Is the task different? No, the task one has is to analyze data – one has information from many different agencies regarding their payments. Suddenly, we have a system where one can actually see if people are cheating – criminals or small or large-scale fraudsters. It is a fantastic job that is now being built up, and one has already identified and caught a good number of cheating individuals. It will grow so that there will be even more of this.
The money that has been invested in the agency is, therefore, well invested. I also think it is well invested to now say no and hit the brakes. It could have continued. There were reasons both to continue and to phase out. But we chose to phase out specifically the transaction account. The agency and its task, however, remain.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Finance, for the answer!
The Minister for Finance says that one must be careful with the taxpayers' money. We could not agree more; I truly agree with that. Therefore, I think it is incredibly important that the work at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency continues. They are doing a fantastic job. It should never be okay for people to cheat, abuse, or criminally exploit our, the taxpayers', money. So the work that the Swedish Social Insurance Agency does is truly important.
This is precisely about the respect for the taxpayers' money – that we must be careful with it and that every wasted tax krona is a theft from the people. Then one must also be careful with every tax krona.
When the government appoints an inquiry to build up an agency, one should listen to it when it says: Don't do it! But it is done anyway. Then I wonder: Is what is written in the Tidö Agreement so much more important than what the inquiry says? One can wonder if the Tidö Agreement is more about reality being adapted to the agreement than about having to take reality into account and adapt to it. Both the Finance Minister and I know that politics is about wanting, about having a vision, but also about seeing that reality changes. And when one gains knowledge, one must take it in and perhaps change one's plans.
What is it then that has happened during this time? The authority was introduced, which worked for a period of two years. Money was used to prepare and build up a system that one already knew might not yield any effect. And now that these funds have run out into nothing, you pull the brakes and simply say that this was not of any value. I therefore wonder what it is that has happened. That is, my first question. I wonder what the difference is now compared to when the investigation came in 2023 and what has happened during all that time.
I also have an additional question that I hope the Minister for Finance can answer. In connection with this, a proposal for an account register was also put forward. We do not quite have a handle on who has which account. Sometimes payments can go, for example, to a violent man who has registered his own account instead of his wife's and thereby prevents the woman from withdrawing her own money. We know that this has happened. Now that the transaction account is disappearing and the work with it will no longer be done, will the account register and the work with it also be scrapped so that nothing will come of it?
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! It is the opposition's task to scrutinize the government, and I truly believe that you should continue to do so. In this matter, I feel very calm and secure. The agency that is now operating works in a fantastic way to stop subsidy fraud and, with the help of data analyses, identify incorrect payments. Today, one can, for example, if one is not working, receive compensations from different parts of Myndighetssverige and cheat in different ways, and it has not been possible to detect it. But it is now possible thanks to the fact that Utbetalningsmyndigheten has been formed and is doing a fantastic job.
When it comes to the transaction account, after many considerations and analyses, we have decided not to proceed with it. The simple reason is that there are risks. There are, of course, also a lot of advantages – that was exactly why the Moderate-led government proposed it. It was not actually about any party in the Tidö community, but the idea from the beginning for all of us was that a transaction account is fundamentally good. I still think so, but when I see that there are risks that can become too great, I think it is wise to hit the brakes.
This will be, Mr. Speaker, a bit special. The sun is shining here outside in Stockholm today. It is November and Friday, so I will say this with not all too great seriousness. When a Social Democrat says that every wasted tax krona is a theft from the people, I can do nothing but agree. But it is also important how much tax one takes from its population and to look at what type of benefits one has. My experience after 19 years in this chamber is that the Social Democrats are more eager to raise benefits than to lower taxes. That has also led to a good deal of the problems we have. This debate is not about that, but it still deserves to be commented on when one claims that one is very careful with every tax krona.
It is I, Mr. Speaker. I care about every tax krona. I want money to be used effectively. That is why this Moderate-led government has made a number of reprioritizations. We have reduced aid, and we have changed investment support and other things and put money where it is needed most – on prisons, police, welfare and other things.
Now we will ensure that the Swedish Payments Agency will function in the best possible way. I am pleased that I was able to be involved in establishing that agency and that it started. It will continue to do a fantastic job – I am completely convinced of that – for all taxpayers, regardless of how one voted, from left to right.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! We agree that every wasted tax krona is a theft from the people. That is why we have a payment authority that audits and which shall stop fraud and abuse of the welfare system.
But there our unity stops. The Moderates do not seem so interested in stopping what results from privatizations and other market failures. There we are not so in agreement that every wasted tax krona is a theft from the people. We want to move forward. We do not want to stop here. We want to stop the market failures that steal tax money from the welfare – what the tax money was intended for.
Now I see that the Minister for Finance does not intend to answer my questions. I will continue to ask questions in any case, because it concerns 200 million kronor that could have been used for many other things if one had only listened to what the investigation said.
Here, one has a Tidö Agreement where it was written that a transaction account should be developed. One receives an investigation that says: Don't do it! Despite that, one continues the work. This means that over 200 million kronor – which we know to date – have been used to develop something that the government now says it should not implement. They say: Oh dear, that was probably crazy. We are not going to implement this. We discovered that this turned out wrong.
I ask again: How could the government let a Tidö point cost the taxpayers over 200 million kronor without first listening to whether it would actually be of any use?
Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you again, Eva Lindh, for this debate!
From the first day of this job – it is now a little more than three years ago – I have worked hard to tackle fraud and the criminal economy. The Swedish Payments Agency is an important part of that work.
I still think it is wise that one can change one's mind. There were also many advantages to a transaction account. It sounds like from Eva Lindh that it didn't – but I'll let it go.
Something that is important for me and for us is to work towards and stifle the criminal economy. That is why we are carrying out a census right now. It is ongoing. We have never had such good control over how many people live in Sweden, where they live, and whether they have benefits they are not entitled to. It was not too long ago that an Iraqi defense minister received benefits from the Swedish social security system. This is something that we are addressing with a census. Furthermore, very many people have been removed from the population register because they are not supposed to be registered here at all.
We have strengthened Försäkringskassan's controls regarding the vab fraud. We have done that quite thoroughly, one could say calmly. They have received many resources to work against this.
One of the most important issues now concerns something that many authorities are truly crying out for and asking for. It is about identity control and that one is actually allowed to save identity data and also share different pieces of information with each other. We have removed several confidentiality barriers, which means that authorities can actually communicate. When you know that you have an individual who is criminal or who is cheating, you can notify other authorities of this. It is this government that has implemented this and which is now working full out to get at this cheating.
These were just a few things, Mr. Speaker, about how the government and I are working to ensure that tax money is used in the best way.
I think it was a wise decision to pull this brake, because had we continued, it would of course have become very much more expensive. When something emerges, there are both advantages and disadvantages, and one has to weigh them against each other. We have then come to the conclusion that precisely the transaction account shall not remain. But the Swedish Payments Agency and its important task, Mr. Speaker, remains.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.