I grew up in Brush, a small farming community in northeast Colorado. The heroes of Brush were Veterans. Veterans marched in the front of our 4th of July parade, they raised the flag at football games, and they were celebrated in numerous functions across town on Veterans Day. I was drawn to serve my country through this ethos of sacrifice shown to me by my community.
Joining ID.me last year as a U.S. Air Force Veteran, I was proud to step into a company deeply rooted in those same beliefs. As a Veteran-founded, Veteran-operated company whose original goal was to make life safer and easier for military families online, our pursuit of serving those who have served has been an integral and personal part of our mission.
According to AARP, Veterans and servicemembers are more likely to be targets of scams and fraud attempts than civilians. Today, fraudsters intent on stealing Veterans’ personal information and benefits have access to advanced tools such as AI-driven deep fakes, increasing the need for secure identity verification.
At ID.me, we are committed to protecting Veterans and their identities from these threats, while simplifying access to the benefits they deserve. Our network includes 19 federal agencies, 44 state agencies, and thousands of commercial partners, all sharing in the mission of stopping fraud. The scale of this network empowers us to detect and counter more threats, protecting military members and their families with the security they need.
We are extremely proud and humbled to partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as they trust ID.me to help protect Veterans and provide an excellent experience to access government services. Over 5.7 million veterans use ID.me’s portable identity credential to conveniently access VA services through VA.gov and other VA affliate websites. Veterans can authenticate their identity on participating platforms in under a minute, once their identity has been verified with ID.me.
With an ID.me digital wallet, military members can access more than just VA services. More than 16 million members of the military community use ID.me’s portable login to also easily access services and offers across the government, non-profit, and commercial sectors. One of the more exciting aspects of our mission is partnering with brands to extend benefits to those who have served. This year we are extremely proud to offer unique and exclusive discounts to veterans all detailed here in our Veterans Day Discount Guide.
Additionally, ID.me partners with many Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) and Veteran-focused non-profits to streamline access to valuable community resources, including:
- Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW): VFW educates its members about the benefits they’ve earned and provides direct assistance to Veterans in need, all while advocating for Veterans with policymakers.
- Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF): IVMF empowers Veterans to build successful careers and launch thriving businesses after their military service.
- Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix): Vet Tix provides free tickets to events for Veterans and their families, creating unforgettable memories to help honor their sacrifices.
- Next 18: Next 18 offers free multi-day golf camps for veterans with disabilities and first responders, providing mental health and holistic lifestyle resource training.
On this Veterans Day, we thank all those who have served, as well as the families who support them. I’m proud to work at a company that gives back to this community that has sacrificed so much to protect our way of life.
