The Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) is supporting the efforts of a group of lawmakers urging the Social Security Administration (SSA) to combat synthetic identity fraud.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Gary Peters (D-MI) recently forwarded correspondence to the SSA, imploring the agency to modernize its infrastructure to enable real-time validation of Social Security numbers.
“Given the push by SSA and the broader federal government to modernize IT infrastructure, we strongly believe the SSA should make provisions to accept the consent of an individual electronically in order to access the Consent Based Social Security Number Verification (CBSV) system,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is within your authority to make this reasonable and overdue change to accept consent without new legislation.
FSR officials said the action from a bipartisan group of Senators highlights how rapidly the threat has grown and the need for swift action.
“Banks and payment companies look forward to working with Congress and the SSA to better protect America’s most vulnerable consumers from the growing threat of synthetic identity fraud,” Jason Kratovil, FSR’s vice president of Government Affairs for Payments, said.
FSR officials said the organization represents the largest integrated financial services companies providing banking, insurance, payment and investment products and services to the American consumer. Member companies provide fuel for America’s economic engine, accounting for $92.7 trillion in managed assets, $1.2 trillion in revenue, and 2.3 million jobs.