Virtual Driver’s Licenses are the last step to ditching your wallet entirely for your phone, and Samsung is inching closer to that reality. Arizona and Iowa become the first states to use virtual Driver’s Licenses through Samsung Wallet.
Samsung Wallet officially announced that Arizona and Iowa will be the first states to offer a virtual version of state IDs and driver’s licenses. These two states are the first to be officially added through Samsung Wallet, with hopefully more to come.
Much like adding and keeping a credit card in Samsung Wallet, driver’s licenses and state IDs will be stored on your phone. The same information on your physical identification will be available in Samsung Wallet, along with a QR code that can be scanned, presumably by authorities if need be.
This will be done in partnership with IDEMIA, which handles official identification in the United States for several states. Driver’s licenses will be implemented using the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard and are said to be “secure, accurate, and private.”
Because the process varies on a state-by-state basis, this implementation will only apply to Arizona and Iowa for the time being. Still, this action may give a boost to other states and get the ball rolling a little faster.
Samsung notes that it’s working closely with the TSA on a test program to accept mobile licenses and IDs at 25 federalized airports. The company has not indicated that these virtual licenses in Arizona and Iowa will be accepted at airports just yet, though they might let you get alcohol without a physical card.
Google Wallet is working on this technology, as well. In its current form, the program is limited to Maryland residents – that’s been the case since December 2022. This addition by Samsung to Samsung Wallet bodes well for virtual driver’s licenses as a whole.
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