How is an mDL different from a photo of a licence?

An mDL is issued and signed by the licensing authority under ISO/IEC 18013-5. A photo is an image you have to trust. An mDL is data you verify against a signature and a revocation list.

Can we check a licence from another EU country?

Yes, and that is most of the point. The verification path and trust list are identical regardless of issuing state, so cross-border rentals stop being a special case.

Do we still keep a copy of the licence?

You keep the verified fields and the signed record your terms and insurer require. There is no image to retain, which removes a familiar retention headache.

Mobility

Driving licence verification for rental and car sharing

A mobile driving licence is signed by the licensing authority. Request it and the categories, expiry and issuing country come back as structured fields you compare in code instead of by eye. Same check for every member state.

The problem

What teams do today

Hand a rental agent a licence from another member state and they have to decide on sight whether it is real, what it covers, and whether it has expired. Card designs differ across 27 countries and the forgeries are good. Car sharing has it worse, because there is no counter at all.

01: Categories checked in code, not against an agent’s memory of 27 card designs
02: Expired and revoked licences caught at booking, not at the counter
03: Unattended and car sharing models stop needing a photo review step

How it works

Three steps with Authbound

Step 01
Check at booking
Run it during reservation so a wrong-category or expired licence surfaces before the customer drives to the depot.
Step 02
Read the licence fields
Categories, expiry and issuing country arrive as data, alongside holder identity if your terms need it.
Step 03
Gate the vehicle class
Your booking engine compares the returned categories against the vehicle and blocks or upsells without an agent involved.

Rules in play

ISO/IEC 18013-5 mDL, eIDAS 2.0, national road traffic law

Live demo

We built Roamline, a company that does not exist, to show this running inside a finished product. The wallet flow in it is the real SDK.

Open the Roamline demo

Questions

What people ask

How is an mDL different from a photo of a licence?: An mDL is issued and signed by the licensing authority under ISO/IEC 18013-5. A photo is an image you have to trust. An mDL is data you verify against a signature and a revocation list.
Can we check a licence from another EU country?: Yes, and that is most of the point. The verification path and trust list are identical regardless of issuing state, so cross-border rentals stop being a special case.
Do we still keep a copy of the licence?: You keep the verified fields and the signed record your terms and insurer require. There is no image to retain, which removes a familiar retention headache.

Built on Authbound Identity Verification. One API key covers every flow you add later.

Keep reading

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Driving licence verification for rental and car sharing

What teams do today

Three steps with Authbound

Check at booking

Read the licence fields

Gate the vehicle class

What people ask

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