What you need to know
- Google today announced plans to start beta-testing U.S. passports as digital IDs in Google Wallet soon.
- Additionally, residents of Iowa, New Mexico, or Ohio will soon be able to add their state IDs to the Google Wallet in the coming months. These three states join California, which was added last month.
- Google Wallet will also gain support for more commuter benefit cards, starting with Edenred and HealthEquity.
Google has been teasing improvements to pass and digital ID support in Google Wallet since January, and now, it's announcing a few major changes. In a press release today, Sept. 12, the company laid out plans to add support for three more state IDs and more commuter benefit cards in the Google Wallet. More importantly, it'll be beta-testing support for U.S. passports in Wallet.
There are two main reasons that digital IDs haven't taken off in the many years since they were first introduced. For starters, only a handful of states support them, and even fewer airports and restaurants accept them. The law requires you to carry your physical ID in every state that supports digital IDs in Google Wallet, limiting its usefulness. Google's plan to add support for U.S. passports could solve at least one of these common grievances in the future.
It should be noted that U.S. passports added to the Google Wallet can only be used to pass through select Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints domestically. You can view the full map of TSA checkpoints that accept digital IDs here, which includes major hubs like LAX and SFO in California and JFK and LGA in New York City. However, the digitized version of your passport in Google Wallet will not allow you to pass through U.S. Customs and Border Protection domestically or abroad.
Still, support for passports is significant because it allows anyone eligible for a U.S. passport to use the Google Wallet to speed through select TSA checkpoints. Previously, you needed to live in and have a driver's license for one of the few states that permitted digital IDs in Google Wallet. When support for U.S. passports goes live — the beta test is only described as "starting soon" — it will immediately make digital IDs more accessible to U.S. residents.
Adding a passport to Google Wallet will be fairly simple. It'll start with pressing a prompt titled Create an ID pass with your U.S. passport. Then, you'll scan the security chip embedded in the back of your passport. You need to take a selfie video to confirm it's you adding your passport to Google Wallet. From there, the app will notify users when their pass is ready. It'll usually take a few minutes.
Google says that passports are secured with encryption and your fingerprint, PIN or passcode is required to access them. The company adds: "You’re in control of the information shared: before using your digital ID for identity verification, you can review what information is being requested."
In addition to U.S. passports, three more states will support digital IDs in Google Wallet "in the coming months." Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio will join the current list of states supporting Google Wallet IDs: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, and Maryland. Google wants you to be able to use these identification passes for more than just TSA checkpoints — in Colorado, a new MyColorado app feature will make it possible for businesses to accept Google Wallet IDs.
Finally, Google is expanding the ways you can use Google Wallet for commuter transit in the U.S. an abroad. Prepaid commuter benefit cards, starting with those from Edenred and HealthEquity, will be supported first.
Is this how digital IDs in Google Wallet will become ubiquitous?
I've written in the past that getting 50 states to agree on everything is incredibly difficult. That's why digital IDs in Google Wallet are a tricky thing to make ubiquitous. In the years since digital IDs were conceptualized, neither Apple nor Google have been able to get even a double-digit number of states onboard. Well, instead of trying to get 50 entities onboard, it just has to get one: the federal government.
I'd argue getting digital U.S. passports to be supported at every TSA checkpoint is just as hard, if not harder, than getting each and every U.S. state to allow their IDs to be added to Google Wallet. To be clear, today's announcements show Google is still working with state governments to allow their driver's licenses to work as digital IDs. However, by supporting U.S. passports, Google can effectively cut out the middle men (the states) and allow every U.S. citizen to use a digital ID in Wallet.
Will it work? Only time will tell. But I'm much more confident in Google's new plan to support U.S. passports than its continuous efforts to add states to Google Wallet, which has slowed to a crawl at times. If digital IDs are to become ubiquitous one day, they will be passports, not state IDs.
We have to give Google credit here. The company seems to have quietly pulled off an impressive feat that no one really expected. I said that Google Wallet was officially an Apple Wallet competitor last month, but if U.S. passport support takes off, it'll be better than Apple Wallet.
