In 2007, CGI client Skandiabanken, a major online bank in Sweden and Norway, asked CGI for help in developing a solution to track down payments transactions for child pornography. The effort was part of the bank’s partnership with the Swedish National Police Board and ECPAT International, a global non-profit organization focused on ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

CGI’s collaboration with the bank in fighting child pornography continues today and has evolved into a broader role. CGI helped to establish and is now involved with the Swedish Financial Coalition, a group of finance companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have come together for a single purpose—to discourage the sexual abuse of children by preventing the processing of associated payments.

CGI is part of the coalition’s payments work group and also serves on its steering committee. The coalition is working closely with the Swedish National Police Board to develop new approaches and solutions for identifying and stopping payments related to abuse. With significant payment solution expertise, CGI is leading this work, focusing on the discovery, development and implementation of next generation payment solutions.

“Everyone hates to read about child pornography and how children are being exploited,” noted CGI’s Elin Swedlund who works on CSR initiatives in Sweden. “We work very closely with all of our banking clients to identify and prevent payments for these terrible activities. Sadly, the child pornography business is continually finding new payment channels, but we work diligently to find these new channels and shut down each one.”