After Detecting Unauthorized Purchases, Panama’s IFARHU blocks 48,000 PASE-U Cards.
PASE-U is a financial aid program for students in the Panamanian education system. IFARHU detected attempts at unauthorized purchases with the cards used to deliver the subsidy and applied the blocking as a control measure.
The official cited as an example what happened during a payment day in Darién. There, he said, the canteens did not register the same level of activity as in previous years, when the benefit was distributed by check.
“When we paid by check, they would go to the bank, cash the check, and that was pretty much it,” he said. Godoy noted that the PASE-U is a conditional subsidy intended to cover students’ needs.
Therefore, its use has different restrictions than other Ifarhu scholarship programs. The director of Ifarhu assured that the majority of parents and guardians use the cards appropriately and that the blocking of the cards seeks to reinforce controls over the benefit.
The measure is part of the new PASE-U payment system, with which Ifarhu seeks to ensure that the subsidy reaches the needs for which it was created.
