Social Security just announced a change for millions of beneficiaries
FILE - In this photo illustration, a Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury on October 14, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo illustration by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Millions of Social Security recipients will soon need to switch to a new login portal in order to continue accessing their online account information.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) said this week that users who created an online My Social Security account before Sept. 18, 2021 will have to transition to a Login.gov account to access online services.
All users will need to have either a Login.gov or ID.me account to access their Social Security account and other online services, according to the SSA.
More than 5 million account holders have already made the transition to two-step authentication and do not need to make a new account. There are still 46 million users that need to transition to the Login.gov account.
"We are currently in the beginning stages of this transition process and our current goal is to notify the public about these upcoming changes, as such we have not set a final deadline for these remaining accounts to transition to Login.gov," a spokesperson said in a statement.
For current account holders who want to make the change, they will be presented with an option to switch to "Login.gov" when they log in using their existing credentials. Once that option is selected, a confirmation will appear that the account has been successfully linked. Users will then have access to their personal "my Social Security" services.
The SSA previously said it hopes the change will help to address the agency's "customer service crisis," and reduce lengthy wait times for callers to its 800 number. In April, a call to the agency averaged about 24 minutes, down from 42 minutes in November. The agency is working to bring that number down to about 32 minutes by the end of September 2025.
"My Social Security is a safe and secure way for people to do business with us," Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley said in a statement last week. "We're excited to transition to Login.gov to access our online services, streamlining the process and ease of use for the public across agencies."
The "my Social Security" accounts are free and enable beneficiaries as well those who are not yet receiving benefits to apply for and manage their benefits, request Social Security card replacements, estimate future benefits and check on the status of benefit applications.