Resetting myPay Passwords Gets Easier

From Defense Finance and Accounting Service

In December 2012, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) customers began to be able to reset their myPay passwords online by answering a few security questions. myPay is the DFAS online pay account management system available to all military members, military retirees and many federal civilian employees.

Before this convenient new feature, myPay users received new passwords by email or mail, which could be a big problem for those transitioning to new jobs or locations as their contact information often changed.

“We looked at a number of options to make resetting forgotten passwords easier and more convenient for our customers,” said David McDermott, DFAS deputy director of operations.  “The security questions are widely used throughout the banking and retail industries to verify user identities. They are the best option we found to improve service to our myPay account holders, while still protecting the privacy of their online information.”

After logging in to their accounts in, users will be given a list of 17 possible security questions to answer.  myPay users need to answer eight of those 17 questions to set up their online password reset capability. 

Later when they forget their passwords, myPay will ask users to answer three randomly selected questions from those they have provided answers to. 

The security questions are optional for now. In the Spring of 2013, however, all myPay users, including those who use Army Knowledge Online (AKO), AF Portal and smart cards, will be required to answer eight security questions.

This change is part of a series of enhancements myPay has made based on customer feedback.