Documents aim to lay out use cases, standards for mobile driver’s licenses

The Secure Technology Alliance’s (STA) Identity and Access Forum has released a new resource on mobile driver’s license (mDL) use cases for the financial sector, as mDLs pick up speed around the world. Thales offers further insights in a blog about integration with the European Digital Identity Wallet. Meanwhile, major names in tech are embracing mDLs, as work on standards continues in the quest for interoperability and global trust.

Secure Technology Alliance

The STA educational brief, “Mobile Identity Use Cases in Financial Services,” lists and categorizes mDL use cases, value propositions, legal and compliance requirements for KYC and AML, security measures, and other details on implementation, in an attempt to provide readers with a broad understanding of the developing mDL ecosystem.

“Financial institutions require strong identity verification and authentication for customers to access services like balance inquiries, withdrawals, loan applications, or notarization,” the report says. “The Mobile Driver’s License (mDL) offers a secure digital solution to improve customer experience, safeguard interactions and ensure compliance.” It includes charts and tables on specific use cases and scenarios, and proposed metrics to gauge success.

The advantages of mDLs also translate financially, STA says, by offering cost savings and convenience. “As mDLs become mainstream and the remote presentation standards are ratified and implemented,” says the report, “financial institutions are well-suited to take advantage of Cost-Savings and Customer-Satisfaction in being able to offer more things remotely at the convenience of the member by using the security capability of mDL.”

Thales says mDLs mark a new era for 440 million EU drivers

In a new blog, Thales gives its own version of an mDL overview, focused on the EU and a directive proposed in 2023 aimed at enhancing the free movement of persons and goods across borders. Standards will enable interoperability, which in turn could make travel and digital transactions in the EU that much easier.

“EU digital driving licences will be based on an international standard ensuring seamless use not just across European countries but potentially further afield, in Australia and the United States, which are also adopting the same mobile driving licences standard,” it says. “Beyond driving, digital licences could also serve more broadly as valid and potentially customizable official IDs.”

The blog notes how increased cybersecurity risks are forcing the need for a tough but necessary realignment toward digital identity technology, without sacrificing existing methods. “While the transformation may be disruptive, and comes at a cost, mastering both digital and physical formats is likely to generate numerous synergies between the two, enabling the agencies to benefit from the required investment. They will have an opportunity to offer innovative, cost-effective value-added services and generally create better services for citizens.”

In the end, it says, the era of the mDL and the EUDI wallet represents “a pivotal milestone in Europe’s digital transformation toward enhanced simplicity and efficiency.”

“Road safety authorities must now start the journey by exploring the best use cases and defining an ambitious vision for what the mobile licence can and should do. The journey toward digital driving licences is just beginning – and the time to prepare is now.”

Amazon betting big on mDL, EUDI wallet scheme

One company in evident agreement is Amazon, which is “doubling down on digital credentials, mDLs and the European Digital ID wallet,” according to a LinkedIn post from Elina Cadouri, COO of Dock Labs.

The post quotes Paul Grassi, principal product manager for identity services at Amazon, speaking at a recent online event. Grassi says Amazon plans to launch mDL acceptance in the U.S. this year, and integration of EUDI in 2026. Use cases will span age-restricted purchases, identity verification for health services and online pharmacies, verified address sharing for deliveries and simplified account recovery.

Cadouri notes that “historically, Amazon has performed identity verification in-house – scanning IDs, running checks, and matching selfies. Their future vision is to shift that burden by accepting credentials that are already verified by trusted issuers, thereby reducing friction and enhancing privacy.”

Continuous progress on mDL standards sees contributions from all sides

Standards are a crucial piece of mDL acceptance, and Dock Labs has a post that breaks down the differences between two key standards: ISO/IEC 18013-5 and ISO/IEC 18013-7.

ISO 18013-5 “defines how in-person verification of mobile driver’s licenses works. It has been around for a while and is mature.” ISO 18013-7 “was only recently published (September 2024) and defines how remote verification of mDLs should be conducted. Despite its recent publication, ISO 18013-7 is already due to be replaced by an updated version, which is expected soon.”

Among those working to update the standard is Andrew Hughes, VP of global standards for FaceTec and a board member for the Kantara Initiative. On social media, Hughes runs down “an exhausting 3 weeks of ISO Standards committees.”

“In Utrecht I was an observer for the latest 18013-x interoperability testing event. The teams are pushing boundaries and exploring new functionality and doctypes for 18013-5 and 18013-7.

Followed by a 4 day SC 17/WG 10 meeting to discuss improvements to the draft text for the standards.”

Hughes notes that, “from the outside, it looks like ISO publication process is glacial – but from the inside, things are responsive to market demand and make continuous progress. Remember: ISO standards are a 3-5 year negotiation about how the future will be – so we dig in deep.”

Christopher Goh, meanwhile, is offering simplification. On LinkedIn, the national harmonisation lead for digital identity at Austroads posted a one page summary of ISO/IEC 18013-5 – a “standard of standards, developed and tested by the world’s leading identity organizations, issuing authorities and other standards representatives to create a globally interoperable, scalable, secure and privacy preserving digital/verifiable credential.”

Article Topics

Amazon  |  digital ID  |  Dock  |  identity verification  |  ISO 18013-5  |  ISO 18013-7  |  ISO standards  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  Secure Technology Alliance  |  Thales Digital Identity and Security