- Walmart is asking some Spark delivery drivers to verify their identities at a store.
- Gig delivery workers get $15 for verifying their identity in person.
- Some drivers have used Spark accounts to make deliveries under other people’s names.
Walmart is asking some of its Spark drivers to prove who they say they are the old-fashioned way — and paying them to do it.
Some drivers for the retailer’s delivery service are being asked to bring their driver’s license to a Walmart store, where someone from the big box chain will verify their identity in person, according to an in-app message reviewed by Business Insider.
Spark drivers who verify their identity at a store will receive a one-time $15 payment, the email said.
“All drivers in your area will need to complete an in-person identity verification” to keep using the Spark app, according to the message, which directed drivers to a store in Northwest Arkansas, the region home to Walmart’s corporate headquarters. The email gave the drivers a deadline of this week to complete the check.
One Spark driver in Arkansas who completed the verification said that she got a notification in the Spark app about it.
At the store, a Walmart employee took pictures of the driver’s photo ID and asked her to take selfies using a company smartphone, she said. The driver asked not to be named in this article as she was not authorized by the company to speak about the matter.
“It really was not a big deal for me,” the driver said. “It may be a big deal for somebody else if they’re not who they say they are.”
“We’re always looking at new and innovative security technology,” a Walmart spokesperson said when BI reached out about the requirement. “This is a pilot we are testing in certain markets, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions.”
The in-person ID check appears to be Walmart’s latest effort to deter people who are using Spark under identities other than their own.
Some Spark drivers appear to shop and deliver for the service using accounts under other people’s names, BI previously reported.
Accounts for Spark and other delivery apps are often offered for sale on social media, such as in Facebook groups for gig workers. Some of the posts make a pitch to people who don’t have “papers,” a reference to not having work authorization in the US, or say that having multiple accounts will allow them to deliver multiple orders at once and make more money.
Some drivers have said that hackers appear to have gotten into their Spark accounts and delivered orders using them. Walmart said last year that hackers accessed 200 Spark accounts, exposing drivers’ personal information.
Walmart started verifying Spark drivers’ identities using a facial recognition feature in the app in late 2023. The tool asked users to take a series of selfies with their smartphones, which Walmart then compared with their ID photo. Spark drivers have to complete the check each time they log into the app, Walmart said last year.
The feature wasn’t perfect, though. Some Spark drivers told BI that Walmart kicked them out of their Spark accounts even though their pictures and details matched their licenses. Walmart told BI at the time that the feature “was working as intended.”
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