On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Californians will soon be able to carry their driver’s license and state IDs on both Apple and Google wallets.
Governor Gavin Newsom said this feature is a part of the DMV’s rollout of a mobile driver’s license app, which was launched as a pilot program last year. After the successful test run with half a million California residents, the DMV, Google, and Apple planned to take it a step further and advertised it on Thursady.
Newsom said, “We’re partnering with two iconic California companies – Apple and Google – to provide convenient, private, and secure driver’s licenses and ID cards directly on people’s phones.”
In the statement, he also said, “This is a big step in our efforts to better serve all Californians, meeting people where they’re at and with technology people use every day.”
DMV said that these digital IDs will be available to use at selected locations, such as “speeding through TSA PreCheck at SFO and LAX” or “controlling the information you share when purchasing adult beverages.”
Regardless of its utility, Newsom’s office said the California DMV Wallet App doesn’t mean that netizens don’t need to discard their physical ID card. The California State Law requires residents to carry physical IDs.
DMV also said that the pilot is limited to 1.5 million participants and can be accessed through Apple and Google app stores. It also plans to host two “hackathons” in the fall to welcome the innovator customers to help improve the digital ID customer experience.
In the coming weeks, residents can expect the new feature in their digital wallet.
