Overview
When a government within the European union appointed a global bank to administer pension payments for citizens living abroad, robust controls were required to reduce fraud and improper payments.
Background
The bank is a global financial institution providing a broad range of banking and financial services to consumers, businesses, governments, and institutions worldwide.
Under an agreement with the government of a European country, the bank administered pension payments on behalf of the government of a European country for citizens living abroad. It also managed partial pension payments for eligible citizens and foreign nationals residing in the country.
The Challenge
The scale of the programme was significant. More than 340,000 weekly pension payments had to be processed and distributed to retirees outside Italy living across approximately 160 countries. Alongside the payments themselves came thousands of customer enquiries covering everything from payment status and account changes to eligibility verification. Supporting customers in multiple languages added another layer of complexity.
The bank also faced growing pressure to reduce fraudulent and improper payments. Strong governance, accurate data, and effective identity verification processes were essential to protecting pension recipients and maintaining confidence in the programme. Finding a partner with the operational capacity, regulatory expertise, and multilingual resources to support these requirements became a priority.
