Mobile IDs are an ‘easy sell,’ but state leaders urge more education

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles announced late last month that its mobile driver’s license or state identity card can now be accessed in Apple Wallet and used at select organizations.

It represents another major step forward for the nascent mobile driver’s license technology, known as mDLs, which are now accepted in 21 states and Puerto Rico for things like security checks with the Transportation Security Administration. Indiana is also now debating its own mDL effort.

But in states where mDLs are in use, adoption among residents remains low. Angelique McClendon, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Driver Services, said just 800,000 people in the state use the technology, which represents about 8% of its population. Using it is an “easy sell” for many people, she said, but there needs to be more use cases and more education and outreach about how useful mDLs can be.

“When people hear that this is available on your phone, they hear convenience,” McClendon said during a panel discussion at the Identity Week conference in Washington, D.C. last week. “When they hear about the structure, the infrastructure there, and identity verification, it's not hard to sell the benefits for efficiency, convenience, fraud mitigation. It's an easy sell. The next step is, well, how do we do that?”

One crucial avenue for encouraging more use of mDLs is having them be accepted by law enforcement, McClendon said, meaning people no longer have to have their physical driver’s license with them and present it during a traffic stop. A new Georgia law will require its agencies to accept mDLs starting July 1, 2027, and acquire the verification technology to help them do so.

“Once law enforcement has the ability to accept it at scale, that means everybody can leave their wallet at home and they don't have to carry their physical card,” said Tim Roufa, portfolio director for identity credentialing at the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. “When that becomes an option for people, I think you'll see a lot of people start demanding and accepting that they're able to use that credential in other venues.”

Making other use cases available will also be critical, said Christine Nizer, administrator of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Currently, mDLs can be useful for online identity verification, as well as address changes, password reset and account creation. But having them usable in physical locations helps raise awareness too.

Nizer noted that the Baltimore Orioles accept mDLs at some self-service kiosks at their Camden Yards ballpark when fans want to buy alcohol, an effort that she said has driven more sales as throughput is faster at those kiosks. That then also makes more people aware that they can use an mDL in everyday situations, she said.

“Online presentation is easier because you don't have the hardware to navigate and figure out [point of sale] integration and all those things,” Nizer said. “I do think as we talk about democratizing it and having opportunities that resonate with people, we've got to figure out the physical space, because that's what I hear customers talk about more than anything.”

Another challenge is ensuring that the tech companies who offer mobile wallets — Apple, Google and Samsung, among others — allow mDLs to be stored and accessible for verification. Will Wilkinson, director of government affairs at identity verification company Persona, said during the panel discussion that it can be a “bureaucratic process” to get permission from those tech giants.

But Wilkinson, who argued in a recent opinion piece for Route Fifty that mDLs are hitting their “tipping point,” said the convenience factor will be huge.

“When people see that, ‘Oh, I no longer have to take a picture of my driver's license,’ or, ‘I can onboard onto a new app or do my workforce verification at my new job just by sharing my mDL out of my phone,’ that convenience is going to, I think, drive adoption,” he said.

Public interest is growing in mDLs, based on recent research. In a survey published last year, cybersecurity, digital identity and aerospace company Thales found that 65% of those surveyed in the U.S. and Canada were interested in obtaining an mDL and digital ID, while nearly 70% said they would prefer to do so via an official government wallet.

The survey also found that, of those who have used an mDL, the vast majority had a satisfactory or better experience. Spencer Moore, Thales’ vice president of civil identity, said having verification technology more widely available will drive further adoption.

“What we know is when we go to TSA, they have the ability to check that digital credential because they have the equipment to do so,” Moore said in an interview at Identity Week. “Once we're able to get to a scenario where it's available to the public, it's fairly easily used, then we will see greater adoption. In my view, that's going to be pharmacies, grocery stores, banks. Places where we normally frequent, in which we have to show our credentials. When they have the verifier equipment, that's when adoption will ramp up.”