The article in brief.
● Financial regulators will step up their work against fraud and crime in 2026.
● Banks’ new security measures have reduced fraud, but problems remain.
● Investment fraud causes large losses and the authority wants to stop fraudulent actors at an early stage.
The new general director of financial inspections wants to take action against the criminal economy. In 2026, the authority will treat the issue as a priority and, among other things, tighten supervision in money laundering and fraud matters.
– It is very clear that it has become a very big problem in Sweden. Many people have noticed this for a long time, says Johan Almenberg.
In his view, rapid digitalization has contributed to the increase in fraud through payment services in Sweden over several years. Banks have been under pressure from customers and each other to offer ever faster and simpler digital services, which has had negative side effects.
– The thresholds for payments have been set as planned for some time. It has brought many benefits, but these are the negative consequences. Payment fraud has been on the rise for some time.
But after the banks introduced new security functions – after criticism from several quarters – the trend was partially reversed. The number of frauds remains at a high level, but the amounts that fraudsters steal are significantly lower today than they were a few years ago.
– It is proof that it actually makes a difference when banks assume their responsibilities. They have to continue with this. You now need to continue investing in this investment.
According to Johan Almenberg, there were concerns among banks about what would happen to the bank, which was the first to introduce such features that contradicted the overall idea of lean and fast digital services. It was feared that customers would find the services more complicated and not as flexible as before.
– I think these fears have been put to shame. On the contrary, I think this increases confidence that banks understand that they are important to society and have to take responsibility.
This only happened after a phase of criticism. Could the financial inspectorates have ensured that this happened earlier?
– The Financial Supervisory Authority maintains an ongoing dialogue with banks and helps them identify what they need to have at the top of their agenda. I don’t see that FI overlooked this. “On the contrary, I notice that this issue has also been addressed from here,” he says, emphasizing that he has only been heading the authority since December last year.
Factual. Examples of bank measures
● Selectable time delay for certain transactions.
● Payment amount limits and the ability to change them securely.
● Ability to select a trusted third party who must approve certain transactions.
But criminals and, last but not least, fraudsters quickly learn to deal with new hurdles. That’s why Johan Almenberg calls on the banks not to sit back.
– Some need to work to catch up with the best in class, and then you need to continue to figure out what else can be done and track where the problem goes next. Because it will be the case that the fraudsters’ approach will adapt to these new instruments at the banks.
The authority will focus more on licensing issues for financial companies in 2026. It’s better to stop dubious actors at the gate than to grant a license and then have to do the big work that comes with revoking an actor’s license, he argues.
– Nowadays it is so common that financial companies are abused and exploited by criminals to make money and then you have to have a pretty high threshold to enter this industry.
When it comes to the other category of fraud that FI has on the table, investment fraud, the banks’ actions have not had the same impact. According to a survey the authority recently conducted of 200 financial companies, Sweden lost up to SEK 1.5 billion to such scams last year.
– This can be about people who lose really large amounts of money. It’s worrying, says Johan Almenberg.
Facts.Investment fraud
Investment fraud involves tricking someone into investing in something that actually has no value or is difficult to value.
This can include, for example, investments in funds, stocks, cryptocurrencies, metals, gemstones, lotteries or real estate.
Source: The police
It is not uncommon for the victim to lose more than was in the bank account after taking out expensive loans in the belief that they can win back the lost money.
In your opinion, should you really get a blank loan from a Swedish lender immediately after clearing your account?
– No, it doesn’t feel good that it should be that easy. Again, it is this compromise between simple, streamlined services while not eliminating thresholds that helps people deal with this type of risk.
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