Don’t settle for basic when you can get portable, fraud-proof mDLs biometrically bound to the holder.
By: Helen Garneau
Mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) are digital credentials that replace physical, plastic driver’s licenses. You hold them on your phone and present them for instant identity authentication. Many states in the U.S. have begun issuing them, but they don’t always make them easy to verify, which inhibits adoption. The European Union has made mDL adoption a goal of its digital identity and digital wallet rollout.
Still, the promise is strong. What makes an mDL useful is the ability to verify it and confirm that the person presenting it is the rightful holder — and other useful information, such as their age.
But in an age of increasing biometric fraud, mDLs already need an upgrade — authenticated biometrics.
By authenticating the image of the person on the license as the person holding the license and then binding both to their device, an mDL becomes a much more powerful form of digital identity — capable of defense against biometric identity fraud.
With Indicio Proven®, you have the power to authenticate biometrics using facemapping and liveness checks, validate official documents and the information they contain, and bind them to their rightful owner by issuing a Verifiable Credential.
This is the process used to create Digital Passport Credentials (DTCs)— ”government-grade” digital identities for crossing a border seamlessly — and a similar process can be used to create mDLs with authenticated biometric benefits.
Advanced mDL verification
With authenticated biometrics, mDLs are much more powerful. For businesses, this level of assurance opens the door to workflows that were previously too risky or too expensive to conduct remotely. Businesses and government services can confirm a person’s identity at a distance with confidence. This saves money and reduces fraud by eliminating duplicate verification steps and cutting back on time consuming and faulty manual processes.
For example, a bank can onboard a customer remotely, knowing that the individual on the other side of the screen is the same person to whom the mDL was issued. This cuts the cost of in-branch visits, prevents fraud, and accelerates account openings.
A healthcare provider can verify a patient’s identity before a telemedicine appointment, reducing the risk of errors or misuse of insurance.
Employers can complete I-9 or age-verification processes remotely, without waiting for physical documents.
In travel, an mDL with authenticated biometrics can streamline every stage of domestic travel. Airlines can verify identity at booking, security, and boarding without requiring multiple checks of physical documents.
The TSA can process travelers more efficiently, confident that the person presenting the mDL matches the credential issued to them. The result is a smoother passenger experience and stronger security at the same time.
Every successful mDL verification builds trust and adoption, creating an ecosystem where identity works as seamlessly as swiping a card, but with stronger security and privacy.
The bigger mDL picture
The long-term value is clear. An mDL that is biometrically bound to its holder moves across use cases and industries for faster, simpler, and more secure experiences. For the governments that have invested in issuing mDLs, adoption means their investment in mDLs is paying off.
Contact us to see how Proven can help you turn mDLs into the foundation for a trusted digital identity infrastructure that your business can rely on.
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