Changing Where Your Social Security Benefits are Directly Deposited

Before You Start

You need two numbers from your new bank: the routing number and the account number. Both are printed along the bottom of a check. If you do not have checks, this information is typically available on your bank's website after you login to your account.

Open the new account where you want your benefits directly deposited first. Social Security will not make any changes until you have a new account for depositing benefits.

Online (Usually the Fastest Way)

If you can sign in at ssa.gov/myaccount, the change process can be fast and simple.

1. Sign in to your account.
2. Open My Profile.
3. Choose the direct deposit section and enter the new routing and account numbers.
4. Check both numbers on the confirmation screen before you submit.

The Social Security Administration has been retiring old user names. If yours no longer works, do not panic. The Social Security Administration website sign-in page will send you to create a Login.gov or ID.me account, which most people can finish in one sitting with a driver’s license and a phone.

By Phone (This Works If You Can Access and Login to the Social Security Website)

You can change direct deposit by calling 1-800-772-1213, but not with your account numbers alone. Since 2025 the representative also needs a one-time code, and you get that code by signing in at ssa.gov/PIN.

So the phone route still requires the website. If you cannot sign in online, calling will not complete the change — use an office appointment instead.

1. Sign in at ssa.gov/PIN and get your one-time code.
2. Call 1-800-772-1213, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
3. Say you want to change your direct deposit, and give the representative the code.
4. Give the new routing and account numbers.

In Person (If You Cannot Access the Social Security Administration Website or Sign In)

You can change your direct deposit of benefits with an in person appointment at a local Social Security Administration office.

1. Call 1-800-772-1213 and ask for an appointment at your local office. Ask for the first available; walk-in waits can be long.
2. Bring photo identification. You will be asked to prove who you are before anything else happens.
3. Bring a voided check from the new account, or a letter from the bank showing the routing and account numbers.

If you receive your payment as a paper check rather than a deposit, tell them that when you book — a change of address has to be done in person in that situation.

How Long It Takes to Change Your Direct Deposit Account With the Social Security Administration

The Social Security Administration states that changes to a direct deposit account take around one business day.

In our experience, the process can still take a few months. If something in the request does not match Social Security’s records — a name spelled differently, an old address — the change can be held up while these changes are checked. This process is done to protect benefit recipients from fraud. It does not indicate there is problem with your account.

Reviewed September 2026. HELPS Law Group, P.C. serves clients in nearly every state; North Carolina law prevents us from helping there.