Earlier this yaer in May, the Social Security Administration (SSA) welcomed former Fiserv CEO Frank J. Bisignano into the role of Commissioner at the agency. Around the time of his appointment to the role, Bisignano stated that he is aiming to turn the SSA into a “digital first organization” and some of the recently announced updates at the agency are a clear indication of this.
Since being appointed as Commissioner of the SSA, Bisignano has been visiting field offices across the country to observe the progress with customer service firsthand. According to the most recent press release on the agency website, Commissioner Bisignano recently visited a field office in Charleston, West Virginia, accompanied by Senator Shelley Moore Capito.
In pursuit of improving service delivery, the agency recently updated several of its services, including the online portal, the telephone line, and wait times when visiting a field office. Here is what you need to know.
Improved Social Security service delivery saves Americans hours
At the beginning of the year, the SSA faced some criticism regarding an announcement that stated the agency will be downsizing its workforce from 57,000 to 50,000 over the course of the fiscal year. The agency had already been somewhat notorious with regards to service delivery and wait times on the SSA phone line and as a result, many felt the situation would be worsened by these cutbacks.
Despite this, service delivery at the agency does appear to be improving and as a result, wait times have been reduced which in turn has “saved Americans 43 million hours over the last year,” according to an August 17th update from the SSA.
The telephone line now has an automated system that allows callers to:
- Verify your benefits
- Check claim status
- Change your address
- Request tax or Medicare forms
According to the agency, 90% of callers make use of this feature now. Additionally, in the case of callers who require an agent, the SSA notes that wait times have dropped from “24 minutes in July 2024 to just 8 minutes in July 2025, and our answer rate has increased to 78%.” Additionally, the update also boasts shorter wait times for in-person visits, as well as speedy decisions and more options for disability and hearings.
“We serve more than 300 million Americans with Social Security numbers, and when any one of them visits or calls an SSA office, they deserve world-class customer service,” said Commissioner Bisignano in the August 21st press release. “The SSA customer service transformation is exactly what I saw today in West Virginia. Since my confirmation, I have visited field offices each week and the feedback I’ve received directly from employees has been instrumental to the progress Social Security has made to serve more people at faster speeds. Senator Capito and I talked with our dedicated SSA employees about how we can continue to make historic improvements here in West Virginia and across the country.”
24/7 online access
User can now access their my Social Security portals unrestricted and at all hours of the day. Previously, if a user wanted to make a change or update to their account, they were required to work around the scheduled down times on the website. Starting this week, however, users can now do the following through their accounts at any hour of the day, as per an August 22nd update on the SSA blog:
- Request a replacement Social Security card online
- View your claim status
- Use the Retirement Calculator
- View your online Social Security Statement with age-based and earnings-based fact sheets
- View your Benefit Verification Letter
- View your form SSA-1099
In addition to the aforementioned options newly available online, my Social Security account holders will also have 24/7 access to all existing features, such as:
- View your benefits and payment information
- View your voluntary tax withholding information
- Read messages in the Message Center
- View your direct deposit information
- View your current address information
- View and update your preference selection
- View and update special notice options
- Access the Upload Documents tool
- Access i454 for Continuing Disability Reviews
- View your appointed representative payee selection