As discussed in its News Brief of July 2nd, USAC upgraded the BEAR form filing system in its One Portal system last week to eliminate the need for unique user PINs. In last week’s announcement, USAC asked users to wait until today, July 12th, to begin using the updated system while the migration to the PIN-less BEAR system was underway. Without actually filing a BEAR last week, here’s how the updated system looks.
Signing into USAC’s One Portal looks the same. Assuming a user has access to all One Portal systems, the initial post-login screen provides the same three options. The BEAR remains one option.

The first BEAR screen — as promised — no longer requests a PIN. Logging into One Portal provides sufficient identification of the user. For users with One Portal Access to multiple BEN accounts, only the specific BEN for the BEAR filing is required. The user’s email is already provided.

Entering the BEN and clicking “Login” takes the user to the Billed Entity Applicant Home Page.

Clicking on “New BEAR Form” brings up the traditional BEAR form.

The pesky BEAR PIN is no more! We suspect that USAC is just as happy as we are.