IDentityUSA Review: White-labeled identity theft protection
IDentityUSA operates in the personal data protection MLM niche.
The company provides a suite address in Texas on its website, which appears to belong to USA+.
An official brochure provided on IdentityUSA’s website states the company is “presented by USA+”
In the footer of IDentityUSA’s website the following information is provided;
United Service Association For Health Care (USA+) is a non-profit corporation chartered in Washington, D.C., in 1983.
The organization was formed to promote the adoption of equitable health care policy in the United States, engage in nonpartisan research, study and analysis for the benefit of the general public regarding the health care system of the United States and on occasion; publish the results of our research.
USA+ has its own website, on which it markets access to healthcare.
USA+ is NOT an insurance company. USA+ identifies the needs of its members and finds the nation’s top providers of products and services to satisfy those needs.
Through the size of its national membership, USA+ leverages its contracts with providers to negotiate benefits for its members.
As far as I can tell, USA+ isn’t an MLM company. IdentityUSA is a division of USA+ and runs as a standalone MLM opportunity.
IDentityUSA cites Belinda Caylor as company President. No information about Caylor (right) is provided.
On Facebook Caylor goes by Belinda Booth-Caylor. On LinkedIn Caylor also cites herself as President of National Health Corporation.
As per her profile, Caylor’s earliest involvement in National Health Corporation dates back to 1987 as an accountant.
Affiliates marketing IDentityUSA cite Paul Wood as the owner of National Health Corporation.
Paul Wood and Belinda Caylor Team Up to open a New Subsidiary IDentityUSA For Top Identity Theft Protection #IDentityUSA.
Paul Wood is a highly successful entrepreneur in the USA. He founded National Health Corporation (NHC) in 1966. He pioneered the high deductible insurance policy for the self-employed.
In 1999 Paul Wood reached a major milestone when the combined assets of his companies surpassed the $1 billion mark.
Belinda Caylor is the President of IDentityUSA and has been working with Paul Wood for 33 years.
Today National Health Corp markets itself as “TeamCorp”. TeamCorp’s website references IdentityUSA and claims it is a “marketing agency for USA+”.
There is an “Agent Opportunities” section on TeamCorp’s website, but no specific compensation information provided.
IdentityUSA, USA+ and TeamCorp all share the same Texas suite address.
From this IDentityUSA sounds like a joint-venture between Caylor and Wood. Given none of this is disclosed on IDentityUSA’s website however, I can’t say for sure.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first company Caylor and Wood have launched together:
Read on for a full review of IDentityUSA’s MLM opportunity.
IDentityUSA’s Products
IdentityUSA markets two personal data protection subscriptions; Secure Keyboard and IdentityUSA Premier
Secure Keyboard costs $17.99 a month for coverage across two devices, or $21.99 a month for four four devices.
Secure Keyboard is a rebranding of EndpointLock, which is pitched as “keystroke encryption software”.
Our SecureKeyboard plan separates us from the competition with our patented EndpointLock keystroke encryption software.
EndpointLock protects the device by creating an alternate encrypted pathway, routing the keystrokes around the area of vulnerability.
IDentityUSA Premier is a typical identity theft subscription service, bundling SecureKeyboard with various monitoring services and tools.
IdentityUSA Premier costs $29.99 a month for coverage across two devices (Individual), or $34.99 a month for four devices (Family).
The same previously referenced IDentityUSA marketing brochure states the company is “powered by CLC ID Protect”.
CLC ID Protect markets a CLC ID Protect Premium subscription, which appears to be identical to IdentityUSA Premier – minus the EndpointLock bundling.
EndpointLock appears to be owned by Advanced Cyber Security Corp. Neither pricing or company ownership details are provided on its website.
Note that IDentityUSA’s subscription tiers also double as affiliate membership tiers. The company doesn’t appear to have a retail customer offering.
IDentityUSA’s Compensation Plan
IDentityUSA affiliates sign up for either the SecureKeyboard or IDentityUSA Premier monthly subscription service.
Commissions are paid when they recruit others who do the same.
IDentityUSA Affiliate Ranks
There are ten affiliate ranks within IDentityUSA’s compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Copper – sign up as an IDentityUSA affiliate (purchase a subscription)
- Bronze – recruit three IDentityUSA affiliates
- Silver – maintain three active IDentityUSA affiliates and generate and maintain twenty downline subscription sales (max 70% from any one unilevel team leg)
- Gold – recruit and maintain three Silver or higher ranked affiliates and generate and maintain thirty downline subscription sales (max 70% from any one unilevel team leg)
- Platinum – recruit and maintain three Gold or higher ranked affiliates and generate and maintain sixty downline subscription sales (max 70% from any one unilevel team leg)
- 1 Star Executive Director – maintain a personally recruited Platinum
- 2 Star Executive Director – maintain a personally recruited 1 Star Executive Director
- 3 Star Executive Director – maintain a personally recruited 2 Star Executive Director
- 4 Star Executive Director – maintain a personally recruited 3 Star Executive Director
- 5 Star Executive Director – maintain a personally recruited 4 Star Executive Director
Note that the following alternative qualification criteria for Bronze to Platinum is also an option:
- Bronze – sell and maintain ten personal subscriptions
- Silver – sell and maintain thirty personal subscriptions
- Gold – sell and maintain sixty personal subscriptions
- Platinum – sell and maintain one hundred personal subscriptions
An active IDentityUSA affiliate is one who is currently and continues to pay membership fees.
Recruitment Commissions
IDentityUSA affiliates receive a commission on recruitment of new affiliates.
Initial residual commissions are paid on an “advance period”. IDentityUSA’s official compensation documentation doesn’t define how long the advance period is.
Recruitment commission rates are determined by rank and which subscription tier the newly recruited affiliate signs up with:
- Copper affiliates receive $30 on the sale of Premier Individual, $35 for Premier Family, $5 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $10 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Bronze affiliates receive $35 on the sale of Premier Individual, $40 for Premier Family, $10 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $15 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Silver affiliates receive $40 on the sale of Premier Individual, $45 for Premier Family, $15 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $20 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Gold affiliates receive $45 on the sale of Premier Individual, $50 for Premier Family, $20 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $25 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Platinum affiliates and higher receive $50 on the sale of Premier Individual, $55 for Premier Family, $25 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $30 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
After the first month, the following subscription commission rates apply:
- Copper affiliates receive $5 on the sale of Premier Individual, $6 for Premier Family, $1 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $1.67 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Bronze affiliates receive $6.25 on the sale of Premier Individual, $7.50 for Premier Family, $1.55 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $2.52 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Silver affiliates receive $7.50 on the sale of Premier Individual, $9 for Premier Family, $2.10 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $3.37 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Gold affiliates receive $8.75 on the sale of Premier Individual, $10.50 for Premier Family, $2.65 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $4.22 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
- Platinum affiliates and higher receive $10 on the sale of Premier Individual, $12 for Premier Family, $3.20 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $5.07 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
Residual Commissions
After the undefined “advance period”, IDentityUSA pays residual commissions as “overrides” and “team overrides”.
No explanation is provided but presumably these are override commissions earned on downline recruitment activity.
As per IDentityUSA’s rank qualification criteria, the company tracks downlines through a unilevel team:
- Copper affiliates don’t earn residual commissions
- Bronze through 5 Star Executive Director affiliates earn a $5 “override sales advance” on all IDentityUSA subscriptions
“Team Override” commissions are as follows:
- Copper affiliates don’t earn residual commissions
- Bronze through 5 Star Executive Director affiliates receive $1.25 on the sale of Premier Individual, $1.50 for Premier Family, $0.55 for Secure Keyboard (2 dev) and $0.85 for Secure Keyboard (4 dev)
Leadership Pools
IDentityUSA takes $1.50 from every subscription payment and spreads it equally across three Leadership Pools.
Leadership Pools correspond with rank, and are shared equally among Silver, Gold and Platinum ranked affiliates.
- Silver ranked affiliates receive a share in the Silver pool
- Gold ranked affiliates receive a share in the Silver and Gold pools
- Platinum ranked affiliates receive a share in the Silver, Gold and Platinum pools
Leadership Pools are calculated and paid weekly.
Executive Leadership Pools
Each month IDentityUSA sets aside a cut from subscription.
Funds set aside are placed into a corresponding Executive Leadership Pool:
- Premier Individual – $1.75 from each subscription
- Premier Family – $2 from each subscription
- Secure Keyboard (2 dev) – $1.05
- Secure Keyboard (4 dev) – $1.35
The Executive Leadership Pool is made up of five tiers, corresponding with Executive Director affiliate ranks.
Affiliates receive a share in their corresponding rank pool, as well as the rank pools below them.
E.g. 3 Star Executive Directors receive a share in the 3 Star Executive Director pool, as well as the 1 Star and 2 Star Executive Director pools.
Joining IdentityUSA
IdentityUSA affiliate membership is tied to the purchase and maintenance of a subscription:
- Secure Keyboard (2 devices) – $17.99 a month
- Secure Keyboard (4 devices) – $21.99 a month
- IdentityUSA Premier Individual – $29.99 a momth
- IdentityUSA Premier Family – $34.99 a month
For more information on the differences between these subscriptions, refer to the “IDentityUSA’s Products” section of this review above.
Conclusion
There seems to be an awful lot of companies connected to National Health Corp.
That’s not necessarily a negative, but the lack of upfront open communication provided on IDentityUSA’s website comes off as secretive.
Not providing clear IdentityUSA ownership information and executive information doesn’t help.
There’s been a few identity theft MLM companies pop over the years. They don’t seem to last too long before fizzling out.
I figure these days people expect the services they use to provide account security and protection, rendering third-party protection services – especially paid third-party protection services, redundant.
Keystroke encryption is nothing new, so I think Secure Keyboard is a waste of time on its own.
IdentityUSA Premier does bundle “legal access plus”, a “tax hotline” and antivirus software with identity theft protection services, so if you’re after that it might be worth considering.
Personally I think $359.88 or $419.88 annually for these services is a waste of money, but I’m probably not the target demographic.
Without getting into cliches, identity protection services tend to be targeted towards technologically challenged clientele.
Moving onto the compensation plan, the primary issue is IDentityUSA’s mandatory purchase and maintenance of a subscription.
Although alternative “personal membership” rank qualification is provided, the implication being one doesn’t have to recruit, everyone being an affiliate just reduces qualification to either
- recruit a ton of people yourself; or
- recruit a few, get them to recruit a few, get them to recruit a few etc. etc.
Irrespective of what products or services these qualification are attached to, they are of course both pyramid schemes.
The solution is IDentityUSA separating their MLM opportunity from their subscriptions.
A quick and easy way to do this would be requiring each affiliate to sell and maintain one retail subscription. Even better make it two.
That of course brings us back to the retail viability of identity theft protection subscriptions in 2021.
IDentityUSA could also flesh out their compensation documentation a bit more, providing clear explanations as to how their overrides work.
Typically we see rank overrides (the first upline X rank received their cut, the next upline X+1 rank receives their cut etc.), which is what I’m guessing IDentityUSA are using.
The other thing you might have noticed is the commissions IDentityUSA pay out don’t add up.
E.g. Platinum affiliates receive $50 on the sale of a $29.99 Premier Individual subscription.
This is where “advanced commissions” come in.
Commission amounts shown represent an advanced commission.
If a membership cancels during the advance period you will be charged back against future commission advances.
IDentityUSA don’t specify how long the advance period is, but if I had to guess it’d be two months.
Granted we’re not necessarily talking big bucks per subscription here, it’s still difficult to plan withe chargebacks on the table for every sale.
Pending the introduction of retail and compensation clarifications from IDentityUSA, and perhaps a bit more transparency on the corporate front, decide if identity theft is something you’re concerned enough about to fork out hundreds of dollars a year.
Failing which, IdentityUSA’s MLM opportunity is best approached with caution.
I’ve learned recently that non-profit companies can own for-profit operations. Not being directly involved, however, I don’t know all the details.
That having been said, this MLM business looks like a loser from the get-go, “offering” wildly overpriced services in a pyramid financial model.
If you really insist on a subscription keyboard encryption service, the typical cost is $30-50 per year. Or you can use one of the dozens of freebies out there.