SSA Business Login System Changes Launch on March 25

Changes to the authentication process for logging into the Social Security Administration’s Business Services Online are to launch March 25, an SSA official said March 20.

The new process is known as eAccess and is based on the SSA’s Public Credentialing and Authentication Process, according to Matt Newton, a technical adviser for the SSA’s Office of Earnings and International Operations. The process is already used for the mySSA individual portal and is to be used for new and existing BSO users to access employer services, he said.

To start the process, users may login using mySSA accounts that were created before Sept. 18, 2021; otherwise login.gov or ID.me accounts must be used to login, Newton said. Users who created a mySSA account on or after Sept. 18, 2021, would have already used login.gov or ID.me, he said.

Newton spoke at the American Payroll Association’s Capital Summit in Arlington, Virginia.

Once authenticated, the eAccess username and password is associated with a BSO account and is used to log in to BSO, Newton said. The BSO user ID is then not used to log in, but should be saved because it must be included in the file when uploading files with the SSA’s wage file upload utility, Newton said.

Currently, only a name and mailing address are required to register for BSO, but the eAccess system will require users to be at least age 18, a US citizen, and have access to an EIN by working for or on behalf of an employer, Newton said.

An upgraded authorization service to associate BSO users with an employer is tentatively planned to launch in fall 2023, Newton said.

“It may or may not be a nationwide rollout,” Newton said of the launch, adding that more information such as access to pilots of the system would be released closer to the planned date.

A feature being rolled out in the mySSA portal is the ability to request replacement Social Security cards for marriage name changes, Newton said. The feature is available to users in eight states: Arkansas, Georgia, Maine, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, he said. Previously, replacement cards could only be requested online if no changes were needed, he said.

The cards take a few weeks to arrive once requested, so users needing proof of an SSN immediately should visit an SSA field office, Newton said.

Additionally, about half of users have access to a feature to correct their earnings history by submitting evidence online, Newton said.