Samsung to Enable Mobile Driver’s Licenses and IDs on Wallet

Samsung has partnered with global identity technologies provider IDEMIA to bring mobile driver’s licenses and state IDs to Samsung Wallet.

Arizona and Iowa will be the first states to offer a mobile version of their driver’s licenses to residents, and the companies plan to expand to more states in the future, Samsung said in a Thursday (Oct. 5) press release.

The addition of mobile driver’s licenses to Samsung Wallet aims to provide a way for users to access their state-issued IDs and driver’s licenses using their Galaxy smartphones, according to the release.

Samsung will use the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard to implement mobile driver’s licenses that are secure, accurate and private, the release said.

The digital IDs will be verified against and issued by state motor vehicle departments, per the release. Users will have control over their mobile driver’s license information.

The implementation of mobile driver’s licenses will vary from state to state, according to the release. Samsung is collaborating with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) “on a test program to accept mobile driver’s licenses at 25 federalized airports where the technology is currently available.”

In early 2024, Samsung plans to release a software development kit (SDK) that will allow developers to integrate online age and ID information into their applications, the release said. This SDK aims to help reduce fraud and friction with the verification process, making it easier for businesses and services to prove the identity of their users.

Arizona became the first state to allow driver’s licenses and state IDs to be added to Apple Wallet in March 2022. As a result of that partnership with Apple, Arizonans can tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to present their identification documents at select TSA security checkpoints in the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Digital wallets can serve as a digital hub for all manner of personal credentials, Jenny Cheng, vice president and general manager of Google Wallet, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in June.

“To have all of this in one place is what’s going to continue to allow that tie-in of payments, identity and passes … so that everything you need to do, in the real world, is easier and safer,” Cheng said.