ID.me and Plaid team up to curb government benefit fraud

ID.me and Plaid are merging their respective technologies to force a verification of the bank account holder before public funds are released. Currently, an individual may pass a federal identity check only to provide a bank account that belongs to someone else. This gap forces agencies to rely on slow, paper-based processes like manual reviews or voided check submissions to confirm ownership.

By integrating Plaid’s financial account verification into the ID.me wallet flow, agencies can confirm the recipient’s identity and their banking credentials in a single, automated step. This consolidation aims to eliminate the choice between administrative speed and payment security. The partnership provides agencies with a defensible audit record while ensuring that sensitive transaction histories remain private, as claimants only authorize the sharing of necessary ownership data.