In 2019, the City of San Diego Parks & Recreation Department launched an identity verification pilot program with ID.me. Using National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace Program funding, ID.me successfully built a system for verifying the identity and residency of golfers purchasing Resident ID Cards for Torrey Pines Golf Course.
ID.me worked with the city of San Diego as an identity verification partner to manage identity proofing and address verification for the pilot. With ID.me, San Diego residents were able to conveniently verify their identity and purchase Resident ID Cards online before arriving at the golf course.
Torrey Pines’ staff say they no longer need to manually process ID cards, saving significant time for their team and customers. The project also led to a crucial reduction in nonresidents fraudulently obtaining the San Diego resident discount.
A report from RTI International on the project found the following results:
- “… staff time spent processing Resident ID Card applications was reduced by 187 hours, with a monetary value of $3,463 based on staff salaries.”
- “… the pilot generated a net loss reduction of almost $400,000 from fraud.”
- “We also forecast the impact of the pilot for the coming 5 years and estimate that the total net present value (NPV) of the pilot from February 2019 through January 2025 is over $2 million.”
The RTI International report noted that the ID.me solution is fully scalable and can be implemented for other public services such as parks and recreation facilities. The ID.me solution is still used at Torrey Pines.
The success of the pilot led the San Diego Parks & Recreation Department to expand the program to all San Diego golf courses. ID.me has verified more than 47,000 people for the discount.
