Digital Driver's License is coming: Can your business accept it?

Earlier this year, the UK Government announced plans for a digital driver’s licence within the GOV.UK Wallet app — part of its wider push to build a digital Britain, and make digital identity simpler and more accessible. We had forecasted this in the OneID® Digital Identity Trends Report, and believe government-issued digital credentials will play a key role in how individuals interact within the UK’s digital economy.

Why this matters — the opportunity

A government-issued digital driver’s licence opens up new possibilities for businesses in identity verification:

• Better customer experience: Citizens will be able to prove their age or identity instantly, without uploading scans or showing plastic cards — reducing friction in onboarding, retail, travel, and more.
• High trust: A digital licence accessed from the GOV.UK Wallet carries high confidence for verifiers, giving businesses strong protection against fraud.
• Commercial value: Faster checks mean fewer drop-offs and quicker completions, unlocking efficiencies across sectors such as finance, mobility, eCommerce , and age-restricted services.

What do businesses need to accept a digital driver’s license?

Businesses will not be able to accept a digital licence directly from the government wallet; they will need a certified service provider (known as a ‘Digital Verification Service’ under the UK’s Data Act) to read the wallet data and input it into their processes.

OneID® is a certified DVS provider that can bridge the gap between the GOV.UK Wallet and your verification needs.

There will be two methods for businesses to consume ID data from a digital driving licence in the GOV.UK Wallet;

1. Via a data broker (‘Orchestration Service Provider’) who can read the GOV.UK Wallet credentials, verify them and gain customer consent to share them onwards
2. Via a private sector digital ID wallet service (a ‘Holder Service Provider’), which can read the GOV.UK Wallet credentials, verify them and create new, ‘derived’ credentials in the customer’s wallet for onward sharing.

Importantly, OneID® is certified as both an Orchestration Service Provider (OSP) and Holder Service Provider (HSP) under the UK Government’s DIATF framework — the first company to gain certification for both of these roles – so you can rely on us for compliance and security from day one.

How can OneID® help businesses accept digital driver’s license from the Gov.UK Wallet?

• Secure APIs to verify digital credentials – Quickly obtain details presented from the GOV.UK Wallet, with audit-ready reports.
• Strong digital checks for high-value transactions – Where needed, combine government-issued credentials with additional verification (such as bank-verified data) to minimise fraud risk.
• Privacy-preserving checks – Request only the attributes you need (e.g. confirming age 18+), protecting customer data and complying with GDPR.
• Operational readiness & fallbacks – Evidence logs, reporting, and alternative verification flows for customers who need to use alternative ID sources.
• Fast, simple customer experience – Keep verification as a single digital consent flow, so customers move through onboarding or checkout without friction.

Stay ahead of the curve with OneID®

This year, we’ve seen a chain of events critical to making interoperable verifiable credentials mainstream in the UK — again, something we highlighted in our Digital Identity Trends Report. Preparations to add a digital driver’s licence to the GOV.UK Wallet and the updates to the UK’s ID framework rules, which introduce Holder Service Provider (HSP) capabilities for identity, are all links in this pivotal chain.

As the UK’s leading digital identity provider, OneID® has consistently stayed ahead of the curve — not only anticipating how the landscape is evolving, but delivering solutions that help businesses prepare.

We’re proud to be a certified Orchestration Service Provider (OSP) and a Holder Service Provider (HSP) under the Data Act. These accreditations align directly with the Government’s intent: to make digital identity easy for individuals, while empowering businesses to reduce friction, boost productivity, and grow with confidence.

Quick readiness check for businesses

• Are you ready to enable your customers to use the GOV.UK Wallet to access your services?
• Do your processes require strong checks for high-value or high-risk transactions?
• Are your reporting and evidence processes audit-ready?
• Do you have fallbacks in place for customers not yet on the GOV.UK Wallet?

If you answered “no” to any of these, contact us! Our team would be happy to talk you through the process and show you how OneID® can get you prepared.

About OneID®

OneID® is the only UK Identity Service that uses bank-verified data to create absolute certainty between a business and its customers in a fast, simple, secure and truly digital way.

Along with bank-verified data, we also offer businesses the flexibility to choose from trusted data sources, like mobile network operators, government identity documents, and our own digital identity wallet—depending on the business and compliance needs they have to meet.

OneID®’s real-time verification solutions balance digital ease with the strongest counter-fraud measures. It seamlessly blends into the digital habits of today’s customers, enabling businesses to verify 98% of UK adults with minimal friction and maximum confidence.

In addition to identity verification, OneID® simplifies age verification, Direct Debit setup and customer and employee onboarding. By streamlining these processes, OneID® partners with businesses to implement key regulations like the Online Safety Act, reduce operational costs, improve customer engagement, and drive growth.

OneID® is certified under the UK government's Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), FCA-regulated, and a B Corp business committed to making the digital world safer. Headquartered in the UK, we’ve brought together experts in Digital Identity, Payments, Banking, Technology, and Government to help businesses build trust and security at scale.