Passwords are the most universally annoying part of login. And, as our digital economy explodes, the password problem is only getting worse. Many organizations now require identity verification and two-factor authentication to deliver high-value services. Unfortunately, those trusted logins are theirs, not yours. Because your own data and login can’t move with you, you’ll need to create a new password and re-verify who you are at every single website you visit.
Clearly, this model isn’t sustainable. The amount of daily friction tied to password management and identity verification reduces access for people and increases costs for businesses. The result is equivalent to a massive tax on our economy. We are all wasting time and money.
It is time to acknowledge that the human brain wasn’t designed to manage 100+ different passwords for websites. It is time to stop issuing logins that are only useful for one organization.
It is time for people to control their own data.
Ten years ago, I started ID.me to solve this problem. ID.me empowers people to fully control their own data through a portable and trusted login so they don’t need to create a new password at each site they visit. Like Visa, our goal is to be everywhere people want to be to streamline access to things they want. ID.me’s secure digital identity network allows trusted credentials to move fluidly across sites so you can prove who you are as easily as you pay with a credit card.
ID.me has meaningfully expanded access to online services, particularly for communities that lack a robust presence in financial records. Our video chat capability, which virtualizes an in-person identity verification experience, helped an 81-year-old Veteran who lives in Japan while caring for his wife, who has Alzheimer’s, access his VA benefits for the first time in years. We helped a California business owner prove his identity and register his business so he could bid on contracts minutes before a deadline. We enabled a student to finish an application for tuition assistance right before it was due so she could avoid taking out a costly loan.
Working on ID.me over the years has been a labor of love because we serve people during critical moments of their lives. There is deep satisfaction in knowing that our service has made a positive difference in the lives of others. Today, with 39 million members and more than 70,000 new users signing up per day, it is clear that we are having a transformative impact on America.
We are thrilled to have world-class investors who believe in our vision to empower people. Viking Global Investors led our $100M Series C with participation from Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), PSP Growth, Lead Edge Capital, CapitalG, WndrCo, Willoughby Capital, BoxGroup, and Moonshots Capital. The round mints ID.me as a $1.5B unicorn.
The new infusion of capital enables us to help more people safely complete important transactions: from a family accessing unemployment benefits at a state workforce agency, to a doctor prescribing medications online, to a teacher accessing discounts from brands.
Building the identity layer of the internet requires intelligent, kind, and driven people to deliver on the promise of a user-centric approach to identity. We are looking for talented teammates who are committed to serving others and to our mission to make the world a more trusted place.
Read the Press Release
ID.me Careers: https://www.id.me/careers
