Google Wallet has announced the launch of digital ID services on its app in the UK and US.

The changes will allow users to prove their age and identity using their phones.

Google, which is also expanding its payment service to a further 50 countries, said that residents of the UK will soon be able to create digital ID passes with their passports and store them securely in their Google Wallet.

As part of the move, the tech giant has partnered with Rail Delivery Group to allow train travellers to use their digital ID to verify that they meet the eligibility criteria for certain railcards.

The company added that it is also exploring certification within the digital identity trust framework of the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which could allow residents to use their Google Wallet ID passes for uses including alcohol purchases.

Google added that it is working on further use cases for digital ID such as being able to recover Amazon accounts, access online health services, and verify profiles on platforms such as Uber.

Digital ID services will also be available through Google Wallet in certain parts of the US.

Residents in Arkansas, Montana, Puerto Rico and West Virginia will soon be able to save their government-issued digital IDs to Google Wallet whilst in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland and New Mexico, Google said users will also be able to use their mobile IDs at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Alan Stapelberg, group product manager at Google Wallet, said that given many sites and services require age verification, the company wanted to develop a system that not only verifies age, but does it in a way that protects privacy.

“We are integrating Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology into Google Wallet, further ensuring there is no way to link the age back to your identity and this implementation allows us to provide speedy age verification across a wide range of mobile devices, apps and websites that use our Digital Credential API,” he added. “We will use ZKP where appropriate in other Google products and partner with apps like Bumble, which will use digital IDs from Google Wallet to verify user identity and ZKP to verify age.”

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