Google Wallet Add More States to Digital ID Support—Here’s What We Know

Google Wallet is adding a new method to verify your age while protecting your identity, and it is once again increasing its support for official state IDs.

Residents of West Virginia, Arkansas, Montana, and Puerto Rico will soon be able to save their official government-issued digital ID cards, such as driver’s licenses, in Google Wallet. California, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Georgia currently allow official identification.

If your ID is a Real ID (you can add your passport if you don’t have a Real ID), you can use the Google Wallet version of your ID at the DMV and some airport TSA sites.

How to add your license to Google Wallet

Open Google Wallet, then select “Add to Wallet” at the bottom to add your license. A list of your alternatives will appear. Select “ID Card” and proceed with the steps, which involve recording a short video of yourself and pictures of the front and back of your ID.

Google advises that you should always have your actual ID card with you and that a digital version should not be used as a substitute.

Your Wallet ID will soon have additional applications, such as online health services with CVS and Epic’s MyChart, profile verification on websites like Uber, and more.

How to add a digital ID to Google Wallet

Open the Google Wallet app on your Android device, then press the + icon > ID > Driver’s license or state ID to add your state-issued ID. Using the + icon > ID > ID pass, you may also add your passport to ID pass. To scan your passport and face for approval, click Get Started and follow the in-app instructions.

Lastly, even if a digital ID is feasible, it cannot completely replace a physical ID card or passport.

You should keep these with you at all times because you might still need to show them when traveling or using specific services.

Verifying your age

Google is also developing a method for Wallet that allows you to verify your age while protecting your privacy.

Nowadays, a lot of websites and services ask for your license to verify your age, but Google is integrating “Zero Knowledge Proof” technology into Wallet. You can use ZKP to verify your age on a variety of gadgets, apps, and websites without disclosing any personal information.

As per Google, you may use the ID side of Wallet to verify your identity and the ZKP side to verify your age for apps like Bumble.

What you can do with the digital IDs in Google Wallet

As long as they are REAL ID compliant, digital IDs (via Google Wallet or state-specific apps) can already be used to get past TSA checkpoints at airports that accept them. Google Wallet just added an ID pass option for US passports, which are also accepted by TSA and can be used in place of a REAL ID. Residents of Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, and New Mexico will be able to use digital IDs saved in Google Wallet at the DMV with the most recent upgrade.

Google is also adding more ways to use your digital ID online, including restoring your Amazon account, using MyChart and CVS to access online health services, and verifying profiles on digital platforms like Uber.

Google intends to implement Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) age verification across devices and services that access digital IDs via Google Wallet, and some apps already allow digital IDs for identification verification.

Digital IDs stored in Google Wallet can be used by UK users to verify their eligibility for a Railcard.

On Tuesday, Google said that more states and services will soon offer digital IDs through Google Wallet. The company also said that Wallet would soon have a private age verification feature and that the app will be available in 50 more countries.

Soon, citizens of West Virginia, Arkansas, Montana, and Puerto Rico will be able to store their digital IDs provided by the US government in Google Wallet. Additionally, mobile IDs will be accepted at the DMV for residents of Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, and New Mexico.

As the REAL ID deadline of May 7, 2025, approaches, Google notes that you can still bypass TSA security for domestic travel at airports that accept ID Passes created from your U.S. passport, even if you don’t have a REAL ID driver’s license or state-issued ID. You should still carry your physical ID with you, though, as your ID pass cannot replace it.

In the near future, users will also be able to use their digital ID to validate profiles on websites like Uber, access online health services with CVS and MyChart by Epic, and retrieve Amazon accounts. Furthermore, Google is giving the option for UK people to generate digital ID passes from their passports and store them securely in Google Wallet.

Google says it sought to develop a verification system that not only verifies users’ ages but also protects their privacy during the process because verification is necessary on many websites and services. Google is incorporating zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology into Google Wallet to do this.

Google will be able to quickly verify users’ ages on mobile devices, apps, and websites that make use of its digital credential API, thanks to this integration.

The company will integrate ZKP into other Google products and collaborate with apps such as Bumble, which will use ZKP to verify age and digital IDs from Google Wallet to confirm user identification. Additionally, Google plans to make its ZKP technology open source for use with other online businesses and wallets.