The Social Security Administration is bringing in a former Wall Street executive to help modernize the agency’s operations.
SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano previously announced an effort to overhaul the agency’s technology systems that serve tens of millions of Americans, and now former JPMorgan Chase executive Matt Zames is joining the SSA in an unpaid advisory role focused on technology modernization and operational improvements.
Newsweek reached out to the SSA for comment.
Read More on U.S.
“Our hiring efforts this year are aligned with the commissioner’s goal to transform service delivery across all channels by leveraging new technology, implementing process improvements and updating tools to better serve the public,” the SSA previously told MarketWatch.
Why It Matters
More than 70 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, and many of them rely on their payments as the bulk of their retirement income. Any effort to modernize the SSA’s systems could affect how retirees and disabled workers file claims and receive payments.
Who Is Matt Zames?
Zames is a former chief operating officer at JPMorgan Chase who became known for helping the bank navigate the fallout from its 2012 multibillion-dollar “London Whale” trading loss.
During his time there, he oversaw technology and cost-cutting initiatives and was even once viewed as a potential successor to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
After leaving JPMorgan in 2017, Zames became president of private equity firm Cerberus, where he worked on technology investments and restructuring efforts. He later founded his own advisory and restructuring firm.
He has also served on Treasury Department and Federal Reserve advisory groups focused on financial markets.
“Matt Zames makes sense if the goal is to make Social Security operate more like a modern financial institution,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek. “He has spent much of his career dealing with tech, operations and complicated organizations. And that appears to be exactly what Commissioner Frank Bisignano wants from him.”
What Role Will Zames Play at Social Security?
Zames will begin work at SSA headquarters in Baltimore as an unpaid adviser helping Bisignano modernize the agency’s technology infrastructure. The commissioner and Zames previously worked together at JPMorgan Chase.
“Bringing Matt Zames into Social Security is signaling that the agency is looking to tackle its longstanding technology and operational problems with the same kind of restructuring used in major financial institutions, and Zames’ experience overseeing tech projects and complex turnarounds makes the decision fairly clear,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
Experts say the Social Security Administration still relies heavily on decades-old technology systems, but Zames’ experience leading technology projects in the private sector is expected to play a key role in the modernization effort.
“For beneficiaries, the best-case scenario is not a change in what Social Security pays but a change in how well it operates, with fewer processing errors and more reliable online services,” Beene said.
“Still, modernizing these services has to be handled carefully. Millions of older and disabled Americans still depend heavily on telephone and in-person service, and disruptions to service or these revisions being mishandled could create more issues than solutions.”
Under federal rules, Zames will serve as a special government employee, a designation that generally limits service to 130 days, but the arrangement could extend longer because he is not expected to work full time.
Social Security’s Broader Challenges
Zames’ appointment comes during a period of significant change at the SSA.
The agency has recently pursued workforce reductions and technology upgrades under the Trump administration and Bisignano’s leadership.
At the same time, Social Security is facing longer-term funding challenges. The agency’s retirement trust fund is projected to be depleted within roughly the next decade, which could eventually result in benefit reductions if Congress does not act.
“For beneficiaries, the potential payoff isn’t abstract. Better systems can mean fewer processing errors, shorter waits, easier online service and less time spent trying to get a relatively simple problem fixed. At an agency handling 75 million payments a month, small improvements can affect a lot of people,” Ryan said.
“But Americans should separate two very different issues. You can modernize Social Security without making Social Security solvent. Zames can potentially help fix how the agency operates. He cannot fix the financing gap that Congress has yet to address.”
While Zames’ assignment is focused on modernization rather than any actual benefit policy, improving technology could help reduce errors and streamline claims processing.
However, not everyone is a fan of a Wall Street executive being newly appointed to the government program’s decision-making.
“Tapping Wall Street to solve a social problem seems anathema to what is actually needed at this time. What went on at JPMorgan during the London Whale fiasco, and suggesting that experience at the bank or other hedge funds somehow equates to solving Social Security’s problems is, in my humble opinion, part of the reason we are where we are today,” Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek.
He added: “Borrowing from trust funds and using future debt to pay off current liabilities is one of the reasons we are in this mess. In some cases, that is the basis of how banks and Wall Street operate, but Social Security is an entirely different animal. We are talking about a social insurance program with obligations to millions of current and future beneficiaries.”
What Happens Next
Zames is expected to begin advising the SSA immediately as Bisignano presses ahead with modernization efforts. For beneficiaries, Social Security payments and eligibility will not change immediately.
“There is truly very little leverage in the system,” Thompson said. “You either increase revenue, reduce future benefits, change eligibility, find some combination of the three, or fundamentally change how the program is financed. Bringing in someone from Wall Street does not change that basic math.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Sam Wilson.