Fact: This is how government payments work
The payments of the electricity subsidy take place within the framework of what is known as the state’s payment model.
It is managed by the National Debt Office, which procures framework agreements with the banks, through which the authorities can then make payments.
The National Debt Office ensures that the receipts and disbursements of all authorities are offset against each other every day.
This applies to everything from electricity support to child support, social benefits and student funds.
Source: National Debt Office
On Monday, Försäkringskassan began the payment of the electricity subsidy, which goes via Swedbank.
The message is that it will take two to three bank days before the money ends up in the electricity customers’ accounts.
Independent economist Claes Hemberg believes that it could have gone much faster.
— Today we talk about banking nanoseconds, the same second I press the button the money is in the recipient’s account. In our Swish economy, this shouldn’t have to take three days, my strong assessment is that the payments should be able to be made faster, he says.
Don’t want to give details
The fact that it takes several days for the money to reach people’s accounts is due, according to Fredrik Falk, director of operations at Försäkringskassan, to various internal checks and reconciliations that must guarantee that everything is correct.
— There are a number of elements in this that mean we have this time perspective, more than that I don’t want to go into it, these are processes that we don’t go into detail and describe, he says.
Swedbank has been given the task of handling the payments themselves. This means that Försäkringskassan sends money to Swedbank, which in turn transfers it to the electricity customers’ accounts.
Swedbank also carries out certain checks. The company’s press communicator Hannes Mård wants to emphasize that the bank does not earn any money from interest on the 17 billion kroner, but that the money leaves the bank on the same day as it enters
“There has been some talk about us sitting on the money, that is not the case, but we follow the framework agreement procedure, which means that we have no float that generates income,” he says.
Float means that the money floats around in the system and can generate interest income for the banks.
On the other hand, this does not mean that Swedbank will walk away from the deal. Försäkringskassan pays the bank per transaction, but according to Fredrik Falk, Försäkringskassan does not communicate how much it is.
Managed by the National Debt Office
So if the money is not with Swedbank at the moment, where is it? The answer is, according to the National Debt Office, that they are not there as a specifically set aside bag of money, but they are fixed as Försäkringskassan makes its transfers to Swedbank.
— Since the money comes from Svenska Kraftnät, which is a state authority, it has gone into the management of the state’s money, which the National Debt Office manages. They might as well have gone to something else, that’s nothing strange, says Åsa Elm, press manager at the National Debt Office.
When the transfer from Försäkringskassan takes place, the National Debt Office ensures that there is not a sudden SEK 17 billion minus in the authority’s account.
— Now the money is with the state’s central account in the Riksbank, but it might as well be placed somewhere. Basically, this happens in the same way as all other government payments, the difference is the size, says Åsa Elm.