The first state to adopt support for digital IDs on iPhone was Arizona back in 2022. Now as more states are joining and ahead of iOS 17 landing this fall, Apple has previewed new ways to use digital driver’s licenses or state IDs with iPhone.
Shared in a press release today, Apple highlighted the upcoming ability to “present an ID to businesses.”
Notably, the feature won’t require any additional hardware on the business side and will only show the requested information on a user’s iPhone after they authenticate the interaction.
Apple notes use cases like checking a customer’s age for alcohol purchases or admission to a concert or validating identity for car rentals.
Starting this fall, businesses will be able to accept IDs in Apple Wallet — no additional hardware needed. This will streamline their ability to securely check a customer’s age in person for things like alcohol purchases, or to verify a customer’s identity at checkout for car rentals, and more. To seamlessly and securely present their ID in Wallet to an enabled business, users simply hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near the business’s iPhone. Users will be shown what information is being requested and whether the receiving party will be storing the information. Users will then be asked to authenticate and consent by using Face ID or Touch ID.
Support for digital IDs in Apple Wallet is currently live in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, and Georgia. And for now, the real-world functionality is limited to TSA checkpoints at a handful of airports. Check out more details on the state of Digital IDs on iPhone in our full guide:
The new functionality for businesses to check digital IDs may take a few more moments than just holding up a physical ID, but Apple notes the benefit of security – both for businesses and customers as it will likely be hard to get a fake ID into Apple Wallet and customers only show the necessary information.
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