Desert Financial Credit Union Supports Identity for All by Becoming a Premium Donor of the Sovrin Foundation

February 25, 2020

Arizona’s largest homegrown credit union supports international nonprofit in its goal to create Identity for All

Provo, UT, Feb. 25, 2020—The Sovrin Foundation is pleased to announce that Desert Financial Credit Union, a long-established credit union in the Southwest region of the United States, is the international nonprofit’s newest Premium Donor. Desert Financial Credit Union recently gave the Sovrin Foundation a generous financial donation to support the continued development of the Sovrin Network and the self-sovereign identity (SSI) movement.

A Sovrin Foundation Member since the launch of the Sovrin Network, the credit union was one of the Founding Stewards—organizations that operate the validator nodes of Sovrin’s global identity network. In 2019, it increased its support by becoming a financial Donor, and with its latest donation, the company has increased its donation status to Premium Donor.

“Desert Financial Credit Union is an organization that has supported the Sovrin Foundation from the beginning,” says Heather C. Dahl, Executive Director & CEO of the Sovrin Foundation. “We are beyond grateful for their generosity because their donation allows the Foundation to continue to administer the essential governance framework for an SSI meta-system, coordinate development efforts, expand the community, and advocate for self-sovereign identity around the world. We deeply appreciate their dedication to our mission.”

Desert Financial Credit Union has established itself as an early adopter of innovative technologies that improve the banking experience of its credit union members, and its support of the Sovrin Foundation is no exception. Its donation to the Foundation helps secure the success of the Sovrin Network and the adoption of SSI globally, providing its credit union members access to a digital identity that the members control themselves.

In December 2019, it was announced that Desert Financial Credit Union, along with two other credit unions, successfully completed CULedger’s pilot program of MemberPass (previously called MyCUID). MemberPass, which is built on top of the Sovrin Network, is a digital credential that represents the simplest, most secure way for credit unions to verify their members and protect their members from identity theft and fraud in all banking interactions.

In addition to deploying SSI solutions for credit union members, Desert Financial Credit Union participates in the governance of the Sovrin Foundation itself. Ron Amstutz, Executive Vice President of Desert Financial Credit Union, is a member of the Sovrin Foundation Board of Trustees.

“Desert Financial Credit Union is proud to be a Premium Donor of the Sovrin Foundation and support the work the Foundation is doing to align the actions of people and organizations that are helping to build the identity layer for the internet,” says Amstutz. “We look forward to seeing the continued success of the Sovrin Network and its community.” 

To celebrate Desert Financial Credit Union’s donation, the Sovrin Foundation is increasing its membership promotion discount to 15% and extending its duration until March 31, 2020. To learn about how to become a Sovrin Foundation Member, visit https://sovrin.org/join-sovrin/.

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About the Sovrin Foundation

The Sovrin Foundation is a nonprofit organization established to administer the Governance Framework governing the Sovrin Network, a decentralized global public network enabling self-sovereign identity on the internet. The Sovrin Foundation is an independent organization that is responsible for ensuring the Sovrin identity system is public and globally accessible.

About Desert Financial Credit Union

With more than 80 years in Arizona, Desert Financial is the state’s largest homegrown credit union with $5 billion in assets, more than 320,000 members and nearly 50 locations across the Valley. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Financial prides itself on sharing success with its members, its team and the wider community. In 2019, Desert Financial gave more than $11M to Valley nonprofits, the community and members. Learn more at www.desertfinancial.com.