At the launch of the Unified Social Security Portal, the minister emphasized that since January, 1.2 million fewer people have been visiting Social Security offices.
“By the end of 2025, there should be 30% fewer compared to 2024,” she noted, considering these “illustrative numbers as they represent a third of the people who would normally be at the counters.”
These individuals can now “handle matters from a computer, mobile phone, home, business, or office,” she pointed out, citing a clear directive from the Government to declare war on outdated service models that prove to be unfriendly to people, families, and businesses.”
The minister also highlighted that in 2024, 900,000 people visited Social Security in person to obtain a declaration, and with this digitalization program, a large part has already been achieved online.
She further exemplified that over 700,000 people went to desks in 2024 just to pay contributions, but since the introduction of the online transfer option, 200 million euros in contributions have already been collected.
Rosário Palma Ramalho also noted that “of the 116 measures of the First People program, 40% have already been executed since the beginning of the year.”
Within this program, measures will advance such as online life certificate verification by biometrics for pensioners residing abroad, the possibility of paying contributions via MBWay, several declarations being obtainable online, pension simulators, and data interoperability with other State bodies.
The president of the Informatics Institute, Luís Farrajota, also present at the presentation, noted that this was the “largest technological transformation Social Security has undergone in its history.”
This project is “an integral part of a digital transformation process that will be underway in the next two to three years,” admitting that about 70 measures remain to be completed.
