Broadcast Retirement Network’s Jeffrey Snyder discusses the digital improvements made by the Social Security Administration with Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Well, joining me now is the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano. Commissioner, it’s great to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Thanks for having me here, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, absolutely. Pleasure. We really appreciate you spending a few minutes with us.
I was hoping today, Commissioner, we could talk about some of the enhancements, both digitally and technologically, that have been made to the Social Security Administration. Let’s start out with my first question, which is, has the Social Security Administration been updating its systems to account for the digital era, sir?
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
A hundred percent. You know, I entered the job saying we were going to be a digital-first agency, and our technology team has really risen to the occasion. I’d start off with, we had a website that was down, you know, 29 hours a day, scheduled, scheduled downtime to be able to run the jobs of the evening.
And we quickly went and recognized it, engineered it, so we could mirror data and allow that to be up every hour of the day. And that’s a digital-first mentality. While doing that, we built a lot of online functionality that allowed people to be able to access their data or transact with us online.
We like to believe that we’re going to meet our clients where they want to be met. We have the same number of field offices as we had a year ago. We have built phone technology, and we have our website to access to be able to do transactions.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
I’m sorry, Commissioner, for interrupting you. That was not my intent. But it sounds like with your comment that meeting people where they need to be met, if I want to access my account on the Social Security Administration, I can do so online, I can do so through the phone, or I can even walk in to one of the customer service centers.
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
A hundred percent. And I think what’s really important is that, you know, we service every American. And we are in a hundred percent of Americans’ retirement plans.
And yes, we pay 74 million Americans every month with an annual total of, you know, over $1.5 trillion. But people need to get their information not only when they’re getting their benefits, but through their whole life cycle. And you can do that on the web, you can do it on the phone, or you can do it in person.
And the fact of the matter is we have over a hundred million digital users. That was not the case over a year ago, right? And building out the functionality, making it easier, but always recognizing that sometimes people just want to come in person to a field office, and we will be there.
Our phones are much more sophisticated than they were, allowing people to dial the phone and get access to information without talking to a person, or talking to a person if that’s their choice.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, well, you know, some people like to kind of mix it up. You know, sometimes they like to see people in person, sometimes they like to go online, and sometimes they like to do all of the above. Let me ask you about checking your information.
The Social Security Administration issues a statement, or at least produces a statement. Should I be, as a potential retiree, should I be checking my statement at least annually to confirm that the information is accurate?
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
It’s always good to. I mean, we find we have lots of users that look online more than a few times a year. And, you know, sometimes you’re going to print out information that you could do, that you used to go to a field office for.
So I encourage people to use what we call a My Social Security account. You can easily access it from our website, and it allows you to do over 38 transactions and see all your information every day.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And to that point, Commissioner, what if I see something that’s incorrect on my statement? How do I go about correcting that? Can I do that online, or do I need to go to a…
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Your own items you can. In some cases, you may need to call us. In very, very, very limited cases, would you have to come in?
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah. Okay. Well, that’s certainly, you know, when you talk about that digital-first mentality, really important.
Let’s talk about… I want to get into all these scams and frauds that’s happening out in the world, you know, mainly, you know, through the Internet. But before I do, let’s talk about data protection.
How does… You talked about the digital-first for the Social Security Administration. How do you protect data like Social Security number, address, all that important indicative data that each one of us possesses?
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Well, first of all, I want to assure Americans that at the top of protect and preserve, which is one of the things we like to say about Social Security, and protect and strengthen, is protecting PII, personal information. And, you know, we have encryption on everything. We have lots of cyber tools.
We believe in a platform of protect the perimeter and surveil the interior. And we’ll use some of the finest tools in the industry. We have done a couple of things in this administration to strengthen it.
We have a head of risk management, a position we never had before. And we have a head of security and resiliency, which obviously is cybersecurity, and keeping us as resilient as possible. So, leadership, really deep, technology, really deep.
And, you know, a mantra from the president down on protect and preserve.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Commissioner, I want to ask you about frauds and scams. There are a lot of bad actors out there, sir, both state-sponsored and, you know, hacking rings out there. Are you seeing, just anecdotally or, you know, with data, that there are a lot of scams?
There are people that are trying to take money from our seniors.
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Well, yes. I mean, we just celebrated Slam the Scam annual event, a period of time dedicated to heighten everyone’s awareness. You know, scammers are going to pretend.
They’re going to pretend and pose that they need you to do something or they’re trusted, right? We talk about the four P’s, pretend, it’s a problem, pressure you. And ultimately, they want a payment, right?
Social Security is never going to do any of those things. No one’s going to tell you you have to send those money right now. No one’s going to have to tell you you have to change something or we’re going to stop something of yours.
So, I want everyone to be aware that pressuring is not a technique you’re going to find from any member of the federal government in supporting you and servicing you. And I ask everyone to be vigilant. They can’t give their numbers up to anybody or they can’t send money to someone.
Somebody’s, you know, going to ask for it in cryptocurrency or gift cards. That will never be the federal government. And scammers, you know, definitely find electronic currency as a way to get people to do something.
And we must protect our seniors against that.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, certainly, sir. And what if a loved one gets contacted or you perceive that there is a scam? Is there someone within the federal government that I should contact?
Should I be contacting SSA or is there another arm of the federal government that we should be reaching out to?
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Well, I think if you have a scam, go to OIG. That’s the Inspector General, the Office of the Inspector General. OIG.SSA. That’s us, the Social Security Administration.gov. We want to hear from anyone who has ever been contacted because it gives us the opportunity to better protect and preserve for everyone.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah. Commissioner, my last question really relates to future enhancements. You already have done a tremendous amount of work with your colleagues.
What can we look forward to in the next five, ten, fifteen years out in terms of improving the delivery of Social Security Administrative Services?
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Well, you know, the president, I always like to say, has made a deep commitment to protect, preserve, and strengthen Social Security. And part of that is what we’re doing about bringing it into the golden age, the digital transformation, the capability of a mobile app that will be coming out very shortly here so people can access it on their phone, the omni-channel presence we talk about of field offices, telephonic communication, and obviously the Internet and the mobile app. And you should just expect us to continue to do what we’ve been doing, serving the American public in a manner better than ever before, faster than ever before, with more tools than ever before.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah. Well said, Commissioner. Thank you so much for your time.
And look, we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon, sir.
Frank J. Bisignano, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Happy to, Jeffrey. Thanks for having me.