Solution makes it easy for Telcos to digitally verify over 42 million individuals who qualify for government assistance programs for reduced price plans and promotions

SheerID, the global leader in identity verification for commerce, today announced the availability of its instant verification solution for low-income households for telecom carriers. Already in use by brands such as Walmart - in support of the company’s Walmart+ Assist program - SheerID’s verification solution provides an easy way for companies to verify households who qualify for government assistance programs. With the federal government ending funding of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) this month, SheerID’s verification solution provides a means for carriers to continue reduced rate pricing and promotions to families who need extra financial support. In addition, it allows Telcos to pursue continued federal funding through programs such as the broadband equity and deployment (BEAD) program.

Since the creation of ACP, carriers could count on the government to verify which of their customers are on government assistance and thus eligible for special discounts on their products and services. Now that ACP is being discontinued, telcos can no longer seamlessly verify and serve millions of customers who qualify for reduced rate programs. The end of ACP also represents the loss of government subsidies for rural broadband deployment. Providing low-cost plans to verified low-income customers is an efficient and effective way to ensure digital equity.

How SheerID verifies customers who qualify for government assistance

SheerID uses authoritative data sources to verify if someone meets the income eligibility guidelines for SNAP. In addition, SheerID can verify if someone is enrolled in a government assistance program like WIC, Medicaid, SSI, TANF, TTANF, NSLP and LIHEAP through document review. Once SheerID verifies the individual through its seamless white-label verification experience on the Telco’s website, the carrier can offer needed reduced-rate plans and other promotions such as discounts on refurbished phones to customers.

Supporting additional communities with exclusive promotions

Given the vital importance of Internet-access in today’s world, providing an exclusive offer to households that qualify for government assistance helps generate goodwill and supports the mission of a company’s brand. This phenomenon is also true when a brand provides personalized discounts to other communities, such as teachers, students, and healthcare workers. From surveys conducted by SheerID, more than 60% of all consumer communities said a personalized offer would make them promote that brand to friends and family. T-Mobile has generated goodwill by offering special promotions to military and first responders, while AT&T offers promotions to a number of communities including military, first responders, teachers, and healthcare workers. SheerID’s verification solution protects all of these offers by verifying that consumers who try to redeem these offers are indeed part of the community.

“This is an important initiative to help people around the country - regardless of their economic situation, gain access to the Internet and achieve digital equity,” stated Jake Weatherly, CEO of SheerID. “We are honored to help telcos that need new alternatives to the ACP to continue to provide their much needed products and services to families in need throughout the United States.”

More information about SheerID’s Telco solutions can be found here.

About SheerID

SheerID is the global leader in identity verification for commerce. With SheerID, brands identify and acquire customers from highly valued consumer communities — such as the military, students, teachers, and first responders — with personalized offers through loyalty programs, digital wallets, and more, that are gated by instant verification from the largest set of authoritative data worldwide. SheerID verifies more than 2.5 billion people via 200,000 authoritative data sources to increase sales while mitigating fraud, provides global insights from hundreds of the world’s leading brands, and never shares or sells customer data. As a result, the world’s biggest brands — including Amazon, Home Depot, Spotify, and T-Mobile — rely on SheerID as their identity verification partner. Founded in 2011, SheerID is backed by Fortson VC, Brighton Park Capital, Centana Growth Partners, Voyager Capital, and CVC Growth Partners.

SheerID is ISO Certified and is a member of the MACH Alliance, the group of independent technology companies dedicated to advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems. In 2023, SheerID ranked among the highest-scoring businesses on Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of Best Workplaces. For more information, please visit SheerID or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.

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