With 95% of jurisdictions in a “fully operational” state, the vast majority of motor vehicle departments across the United States make use of the AAMVA Driver’s License Data Verification (DLDV) service. While one of the major advantages of using the DLDV service is allowing organizations to verify that an ID they are presented with is the same as the ID that the jurisdiction has on file, Kristina Boardman, administrator at the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles, explains that its advantages go beyond that.

“Since we joined the service in December 2015 through November 2020, over 145,000 Wisconsinites have been able to get their replacement social security card online because we participate in this service,” she says. “This has been such a win for our consumers. If we weren’t part of the service, we would be denying them that opportunity to do their business with the [Social Security Administration (SSA)] remotely.”

And the wins DLDV offers aren’t exclusive to consumers, Boardman explains.

“Consumers are definitely seeing that benefit, but on the business side, there are also a lot of benefits, especially for the financial community where they depend on identity verification and are making decisions based on these documents,” Boardman says. “Financial fraud is always a concern, and communicating the availability of this easy reference tool to the financial community has been favorably received.”

Additionally, Boardman sees an opportunity for DLDV to become more useful in the future with the requirement of REAL ID licenses for boarding airplanes and entering federal buildings taking effect in October 2021.

“Right now, DLDV doesn’t have the REAL ID identifier as one of its data elements,” she says. “However, adding this functionality could be a great opportunity to assist with confirming airline traveler identification. Having a process for quick verification of REAL ID on the back end with a jurisdiction would be a great use of this tool with very little IT work required on behalf of jurisdictions.”

With Wisconsin seeing so much success with the DLDV service, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic making the ability to do SSA business remotely especially important for citizens, Boardman has seen nothing but positives for her organization. She points to the fact that no information is shared—the DLDV check on an ID is essentially a “red light or green light”—as a factor in its security and ease of implementation. For jurisdictions that are not fully taking advantage of the DLDV service at the moment, Boardman recommends getting on board as soon as possible.

“For Wisconsin, DLDV has been a 100% value-add program,” says Boardman. “We have a lot of systems that we maintain, and this is one that we don’t worry about. It was easy to implement and we feel very comfortable with the service and its security.”

Learn more about the Driver’s License Data Verification Service.