Skift Take
Google is making a big step toward a world where a physical wallet is obsolete. And it beat competitor Apple in announcing plans to enable a digital passport.
Google Wallet will soon enable the ability to store a digital version of a U.S. passport. The company said Thursday that the digital passport will work at select Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints.
The announcement was among several new travel features coming to Google Wallet.
Apple has yet to make a similar announcement for its digital wallet, even though it was first released 10 years before Google’s.
Google began rolling out Wallet in July 2022. Similar to the version for Apple devices, Google Wallet allows Android device users to store credit cards and tap for payment in stores, as well as save tickets for trains and more.
The app is available on Android devices, and now also online at wallet.google.com. The company says millions of people have used Google Wallet since it was launched two years ago.
What’s Taking So Long?
A digital U.S. passport has been a long time coming.
“This has kind of been in the works for about 10 years,” a TSA spokesperson told Skift.
Meanwhile, many other countries have been implementing various types of next-generation tech for passports.
Finland in 2023 became the first country in the world to enable digital passports. Poland, South Korea, and the UK are developing similar programs. Some countries use electronic passports, which are traditional passports with a microchip that contains biometric information. Malaysia was the first in 1998.
The U.S. has been implementing digital state IDs for the past couple of years.
More than two dozen airports in the U.S. accept digital state IDs at TSA security checkpoints. There are 11 states that permit digital IDs through Apple, Google, Samsung, and a few governmental apps.
The company Idemia provides the tech that TSA uses to read the IDs and to run the PreCheck program.
The standard for the program will be the same for the digital passport that Google is adding, and there’s no additional tech needed to make it happen, the TSA spokesperson told Skift.
“It folds right in with everything else that we’re doing,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson declined to say whether the TSA is working on a similar project with Apple or another company. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
Apple Wallet began accepting state IDs in 2022. The company accepts IDs for five states, with plans to add California soon.
Google began accepting state IDs last year. The company recently added California to the mix, and IDs for Iowa, New Mexico, and Ohio are being added in the coming months.
Google is also working to expand how third parties can access ID information, the company said. Colorado is releasing a new reader within the MyColorado app that allows businesses in the state to accept the digital IDs.
How to Add a Digital Passport on Google Wallet
The U.S. passport is the first one Google is adding to the Wallet.
To create the passport ID: Select the prompt in the Google Wallet that says, “Create an ID pass with your U.S. passport.” Follow the instructions to scan the security chip on the back of the passport, and take a selfie video to verify your identity.
The IDs are encrypted, and the user authenticates using a fingerprint or passcode.
Transport Tickets on Google Wallet
Google is continuing to add the ability to save transit tickets for cities worldwide to the Wallet app. The company recently added transport tickets for Hamburg, Germany. More are coming soon for transport in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The number of people using Google Wallet for their commutes has more than doubled in the past 18 months, Google said.
Google now automatically imports tickets from Gmail to the Wallet. And the Wallet is soon getting the ability to display live train status updates from the ticket.
There are also new notifications for changes to a ticket, like if the assigned seat on a board pass changes. Commuters in the U.S. can now also add select prepaid benefit cards to Google Wallet.
The Future of Digital IDs for Travel
Google says the digital passport is part of a long-term vision to make travel more seamless for users.
Alan Stapelberg, group product manager of Google Wallet, described in a blog post on Thursday the way that travel could look in the next five or 10 years with digital IDs:
“Imagine starting a vacation like this: You arrive at the airport and breeze through security by tapping your phone to a reader, scanning your boarding pass and ID. While waiting to board, you grab a drink at an airport bar, tapping your phone to prove your age. When you arrive at your destination, you find your rental car and leave the lot without stopping for an in-person ID check because you already provided the necessary information in the rental car app. You check into your hotel online and your key is issued straight to your digital wallet. You do all of this with your phone — no physical wallet required.”