Last week Apple launched a new feature for iOS 26.1 users: Digital ID in Apple Wallet. Here’s why the new feature could become a gift that keeps giving.
Digital ID could help Apple’s Wallet dream finally come true
All the way back in 2021, Apple announced plans for its Wallet app to house digital driver’s licenses and state IDs. Eight states were the first to pledge support for the feature.
Until recently though, the state rollout of digital driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet has been extremely slow.
But the new Digital ID feature in iOS 26.1 has started shifting the tides.
Rather than waiting on every state to roll out Wallet support for driver’s licenses, Apple now offers its own Digital ID that’s created using a US passport.
Like states’ mobile driver’s licenses, Digital ID is an important step toward modernizing the wallet.
After years of waiting for my state to support Wallet, I was excited to finally have another solution via Digital ID.
But what’s more exciting than having Digital ID on my iPhone right now is the bigger impact I expect the feature will make long-term. Digital ID is likely to accelerate:
Nationwide acceptance of digital forms of identification
State rollouts of digital driver’s licenses in Wallet
Accelerating Wallet ID acceptance in two ways
On the acceptance front, Digital ID is understandably starting off small. Per Apple:
At launch, Digital ID acceptance will roll out first in beta at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports in the U.S. for in-person identity verification during domestic travel, with additional Digital ID acceptance use cases to come in the future.
I have no doubt that the new feature will prompt wider digital identification support in airports and businesses. Smartphones are so ubiquitous, as are NFC payment solutions, leaving ID as one of the main remaining reasons to carry a physical wallet.
But I also think Digital ID will spur states to move quicker with rolling out driver’s licenses in Wallet.
In fact, we’re already seeing this trend play out. Despite a slow initial rollout, four new states have launched driver’s licenses in Wallet just in the last few months. More are expected to follow soon.
Is it mere coincidence that all of this state support has come shortly after Digital ID was unveiled in June?
It seems that Apple Wallet’s rollout of Digital ID in iOS 26.1 is already driving action. I expect in time, it will prove a gift that keeps giving, having a domino effect on adoption of digital identification methods.
Do you expect Digital ID to make a big impact in the coming years? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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