Hawaii 7th state offering mDL in Apple Wallet

Hawaii mobile driver’s licenses (mDL) can now be added to Apple Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch, according to an announcement from the Hawaiian government.

“REAL ID-compliant Hawaii driver’s licenses and state identification cards can be added to iPhone and Apple Watch as of August 28, 2024,”: says the press release. “Within Hawaii, digital driver’s licenses and state identification cards are currently accepted at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at the Terminal 1 Makai Checkpoint of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Apple Stores in the U.S. and in select apps that require identity or age verification.”

The mDL launch makes Hawaii the seventh state to offer digital driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet. Ohio, Maryland, Arizona, Georgia and Colorado are all presently represented, with Apple integration for California’s mDL imminent.

The state says other digital ID wallet providers will be added to the scheme over time.

That’s in keeping with the herky-jerky nature of progress on mDLs across the U.S. The digital credentials are available in some states, but not others; on some wallets, but not others; and accepted by some merchants and authorities, but not very many. 14 states now have an active mDL program: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Utah, as well as Puerto Rico. TSA currently accepts all except Delaware, Mississippi and Missouri at select airports, where travelers use biometric CAT-2s from Idemia I&S for identity verification. 

Hawaii’s own mobile driver’s license project has been in the works since 2020.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently tapped fifteen organizations to collaborate with its National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) on the first use case for its mDL project. And the White House has signaled its support for mobile drivers licenses and digital ID wallets.

Still, full nationwide implementation of mDLs remains an oasis on the horizon.

Article Topics

Apple Wallet  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  Hawaii  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  TSA  |  United States