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Affinity Discounts-Part 1

In honor of this being Memorial Day weekend, I thought it would be a good time to post about a nifty Affinity Discount Platform called ID.me.  If you're a current or former member of the Military, you've probably already heard of ID.me (and probably already have an account).  If you've ever accessed the US Government's Social Security website, you probably also have an account.  You may not have otherwise heard of them-and it's time to learn this trick!

ID.me started out years ago as the name of the company somewhat implies-as a way to verify identities for whatever was needed (access to military benefits, social security, etc..), and somewhere along the way, they realized that there are tons of companies out there that offer discounts to Affinity Groups (alumni is always a big one, but think about teachers, nurses, etc...as well).  At best, these companies would have an internal database where they manually track and manage all of their Affinity members.  UGH.

 ID.me got smart and realized they had already figured out the technology part of identity authentication, and management, and started marketing their services to retailers (e-commerce as an example) to help improve these retailers' discount program offerings.  I first learned of ID.me while working at an e-commerce company a decade ago, and have been a fan ever since.

To take advantage of ID.me as a consumer, all you have to do is be a member of one of the affinity groups that ID.me works with-military, teachers, nurses, students, first responders, doctors...and more.  It's a lengthy list!   

From there, you can then sign up for a (free) membership to ID.me, and access discounts to retailers on their website...or you can shop on your favorite websites, and just take a moment before browsing to find out if the retailer partners with ID.me-and login to your ID.me account from there. You can usually do this by scrolling down to the bottom of the website's home page and look for a mention about Military Discounts.

That's it.  Easy peasy!  For a few extra clicks, you can save off of just about every purchase you make online.

It's worth noting that there is also a company called GovX that is like ID.me but focuses only on current/former military and first responders, so their affinity group reach is a little limited.  If you are 'military affiliated' it might be worth checking them out to to see if you can get a better discount.

If you're already a member of ID.me or GovX, I'd love to hear about your shopping experience.  Drop a message in the comments and tell me all about it!

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