New Mexico Joins the Digital Driver’s License Club
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New Mexico has just become the ninth state to sign on with Apple’s Digital ID initiative, letting residents add their digital driver’s licenses and state IDs directly to the Wallet app.
The state’s MVD announced the New Mexico Digital License and ID initiative today with support for both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. The rollout is similar to what we’ve seen in other states, with the agency noting that it’s not yet ready to replace a physical ID card for presenting to law enforcement officials. However, it can be used at airport security screening checkpoints and as proof of age at venues that support Mobile IDs.
Having a cell phone and mobile device with you at virtually all times is simply a fact of life these days. This new capability adds one more level of convenience for us all. Stephanie Schardin Clarke, Taxation and Revenue Secretary
New Mexico joins Arizona, Maryland, Colorado, Georgia, Ohio, California, Hawaii, and Iowa, bringing the total number of states supporting digital IDs in Apple Wallet to nine. It’s already showing up when adding an ID in Apple’s Wallet app, which now includes a search field at the top to help filter the list of states — something that’s starting to become necessary as the number of states increases.
Apple introduced support for digital IDs in Apple Wallet three years ago in iOS 15.1, but it’s fair to say that the uptake has been relatively slow until recently. Although eight states initially committed to embracing digital IDs, only three of those showed up in the near term, and four of those original eight are still missing in action.
The initial list included Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah. At the time, Apple expected Arizona and Georgia to be ready first; Arizona came on board in March 2022, but Maryland edged out Georgia in May. Georgia and another unexpected entry — Colorado — were ready by the end of 2022. Then things got quiet.
As Florida and California went in their own directions and no newcomers arrived in 2023, it started looking like Apple Wallet integration had stalled. However, this past summer things started moving again at a relatively furious pace as Ohio, California, and Hawaii all signed on in short order. Then came Iowa in October, the fourth of the original eight from Apple’s 2021 announcement. Meanwhile, Connecticut, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Utah remain conspicuously absent.
With New Mexico’s arrival to the Wallet app, more new states have joined on in the past few months than in the first year of Apple’s Digital ID project. We’re hopeful this is a sign that things are gaining momentum as more states figure out how to implement digital IDs.
To be clear, Apple’s Digital IDs aren’t proprietary technology. They’re based on the open mobile driver’s license (mDL) standard, which is why New Mexico is offering its new driver’s licenses in both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Google was a bit later in embracing digital IDs, announcing support in late 2023, two years after Apple. However, that’s likely helped spur adoption, and Google is getting ahead of the curve with a recent announcement that it will soon allow users to securely digitize their US passports, allowing US citizens to present digital IDs at TSA checkpoints even if their state doesn’t yet support digital driver’s licenses.
Still, the airports where the TSA accepts digital IDs are relatively limited and tend to follow state-by-state rollouts. For example, no airports in New Mexico are on the list yet, although officials shared that checkpoints at the Albuquerque Sunport and the Lea County Regional Airport near Hobbs will soon accept digital IDs now that they’re available in that state.
Beyond the TSA, New Mexico digital driver’s licenses will be usable at participating venues for age verification. There’s no word on how many businesses in New Mexico are included, but the ability to scan digital IDs using nothing more than an iPhone should help venues get on board relatively quickly.
