The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is preparing to launch new digital options that will allow Californians to store their driver’s license or identification card in their Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday.

The new features provide multiple ways to store and present California driver’s licenses and identification cards on iPhones, Apple Watches and Android devices. The initiative is part of the DMV’s mobile driver’s license (mDL) pilot project that began last year.

Driver’s licenses or ID cards stored in Google Wallet or Apple Wallet can be used at select businesses and at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoints at airports, as well as in select apps.

“It is a convenient way to verify identity that gives Californians more control over how they share their information,” the governor’s office said in a press release.

“We’re partnering with two iconic California companies – Apple and Google – to bring convenient, private and secure driver’s licenses and identification cards directly to people’s phones,” Newsom said in the release. “This is a big step in our efforts to better serve all Californians by meeting people where they are and with the technology people use every day.”

More than 500,000 state residents have so far loaded a mobile driver’s license onto their phones through the California DMV Wallet app. The mDL pilot program is limited to 1.5 million participants.

“We are continuing to expand the availability and acceptance of digital driver’s licenses and ID cards while ensuring the highest levels of data protection and security,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said in the press release.

Storing a driver’s license or ID card in one of the wallet apps does not mean that you do not need to carry your physical documents with you. It is intended to facilitate age or identity verification at participating companies and airports where ID is required.

“The DMV continues to work with interested groups to promote broad adoption of the mDL, including financial institutions, retail establishments, law enforcement and government agencies,” the governor’s press release said.

On its mDL website, the DMV explains that there are benefits to using the app: “Usage is not tracked and no data leaves your device without your consent. The mDL provides accurate and secure proof of identity to the businesses you interact with and reduces the risk of fraud and identity theft.”

Other features of the mDL include:

• Log in to the DMV website with your mDL. No password is required with the app.
• This allows you to apply for a disability card for your vehicle
• Allows developers to leverage the OpenCred GitHub source code repository to give apps the ability to verify identity and age online via the CA DMV Wallet.

The department is also planning two hackathons in the next few months for vendors and innovators interested in integrating the digital identity tool into their customer experience.

For more information about California IDs in Google Wallet and Apple Wallet, as well as other mDLs issued in California, visit dmv.ca.gov/mdl. The Android app is available here and the Apple app is available here.