New Mexico joins states like California and Ohio in supporting digital driver’s licenses and state IDs on Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. While New Mexico residents are still required by law to carry physical identification for use in law enforcement and age verification, businesses have adopted New Mexico’s NM Verifier app. and TSA checkpoints, cards that you can tap instead of pulling out your smartphone.
You can now add digital licenses to your Apple and Google apps by scanning the front and back of your physical ID, capturing a facial scan, and submitting your digital application for verification. Ta. Once you add a digital ID, you can obtain and use it the same way you pay with a digital payment card. Google has a video on how to add a card to Google Wallet, and Apple has a detailed support article on how to add an ID to Apple Wallet (if you’re looking for tips).
The New Mexico Department of Motor Vehicles first proposed legislation in January 2024 that would “provide electronic certificates to customers at no additional cost.” Deploying digital ID remains a complex process, and TSA lists 12 states that currently offer some form of digital ID. , However, only Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, and New Mexico currently offer both Google and Apple app IDs. To make things even more confusing, some states like Ohio, Hawaii, and Iowa offer Apple Wallet IDs, but Google’s apps don’t.
Moving to an exclusively digital wallet is not without potential risks. The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized states for rapidly implementing digital driver’s licenses without creating additional protections for cardholders. These include preventing identity issuers and verifiers from tracking digital card usage, and preserving the right not to use digital cards for people who don’t own or can’t afford a smartphone. Includes: Apple and Google’s solutions provide privacy protection by encrypting information and keeping devices locked even after you present your ID, but they do not fully understand how state or federal governments can access these new digital systems. This is not an explanation.
