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Congressional Democrats investigating lucrative contract for Social Security commissioner's former firm

Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun on

Published in News & Features

Congressional Democrats are investigating whether Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano knew – and should have disclosed – that his company stood to benefit from a huge contract overseeing a debit card program serving millions of recipients of Social Security and other programs, The Baltimore Sun has learned.

The Senate Finance Committee’s Democratic staff, led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, is investigating whether Bisignano knew during his confirmation about a pending five-year Direct Express contract, which distributes government benefits to about 3.4 million Americans via prepaid cards, a committee spokesperson said.

The Sun asked the Social Security Administration a series of questions on Wednesday, but they have yet to respond. The SSA also did not make Bisignano available for an interview as requested.

The contract was awarded to Fifth Third, an Ohio-based bank, and began on Sept. 9, according to the company’s news release that day naming Money Network Financial, LLC as the program’s manager. Money Network Financial is a subsidiary of Fiserv, the company Bisignano headed as chairman and CEO until stepping down on May 6 to take over the agency.

Bisignano, whose former company is one of the world’s largest payment and financial technology firms, told the Senate panel in a March 25 question-and-answer document: “I have committed to divest all Fiserv holdings if confirmed.”

There was no mention of the contract in the 54-page document — which was part of the confirmation process—or during statements at his committee confirmation.

Wyden, the committee’s top-ranking Democrat, could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

Bisignano had known months before his May confirmation that he was being nominated. President Donald Trump, then the incoming president, posted on Truth Social on Dec.4, 2024, that he intended to nominate Bisignano, a top Republican donor. Bisignano, Trump posted, “will be responsible to deliver on the Agency’s commitment to the American People for generations to come!”

Martin O’Malley, the former Social Security Administration commissioner, told The Sun: “Congress should have questions for any commissioner in light of this conflict. Among them is: ‘Did you know that your company was bidding on this work during your confirmation?’ and ‘Were you in conversations with Treasury about this contract?’ I certainly was as commissioner.”

 

O’Malley is also a former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor.

The Social Security Administration, based in Baltimore County, paid more than $1.5 trillion in benefits last year to more than 72 million people..

It is not clear when Fifth Third became a bidder for the contract or how much it was worth. The contract was awarded by the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The bureau did not immediately return messages on Wednesday about the contract timetable.

Bank of New York Mellon had originally been selected a year ago but that agreement never moved forward. The program—which is widely used by people who don’t have bank accounts — has had a history of customer service problems.

The Social Security Administration has been encouraging beneficiaries who receive paper checks to switch to debit cards. It announced earlier this year that, with few exceptions, it would stop issuing paper checks to beneficiaries on Sept. 30. That followed a March executive order issued by Trump requiring all federal disbursements to shift to electronic payments by the end of this month.

The Social Security Administration said the shift will curb lost or stolen payments, speed up processing times and save the government millions of dollars a year.

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©2025 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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