CLEAR and Samsung have launched Samsung ID with CLEAR, a passport-backed digital identity that lives inside Samsung Wallet and can be used by US passport holders to verify themselves at airport security checkpoints and at participating venues. The credential is available on Samsung devices running Android 9.0 or higher with a Samsung account.
A user enrolls by linking a valid US passport and completing a biometric enrollment with CLEAR, which then issues the credential into Samsung Wallet on the phone. At airport security, the credential can be used at more than 250 TSA checkpoints, the locations where CLEAR already operates its members-only identity verification lanes. Outside the airport, the same credential is being used for age verification at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, where staff can confirm a guest is over the legal drinking age without inspecting a physical ID, and CLEAR has said additional sporting venues will follow.
The release puts a federally anchored identity credential into Samsung Wallet, alongside the state-issued mobile driver’s licenses Samsung has previously added. Samsung Wallet hosts state mDLs from a growing list of US states, and the TSA has separately extended mobile ID acceptance to Samsung Wallet at participating checkpoints.
The CLEAR credential is anchored to a US passport rather than a state driver’s license, an approach the company has previously used in a free passport-based digital ID inside CLEAR’s own app. Moving the same credential into Samsung Wallet places it next to a phone’s payment cards and other passes, rather than in a separate app.
“CLEAR’s secure identity platform makes experiences safer and easier, both physically and digitally,” said Caryn Seidman Becker, Chief Executive Officer of CLEAR. Woncheol Chai, Executive Vice President and Head of the Digital Wallet Team at Samsung, said Samsung ID with CLEAR “represents the future and remains at the forefront of digital identity.” Christian Lau, Chief Technology Officer at BMO Stadium, said the credential lets guests “move through the venue faster and more securely.”
CLEAR said the credential is built around user control of the underlying data and that the company does not sell biometric or sensitive personal information. At TSA checkpoints, Samsung ID with CLEAR connects to the existing biometric verification flow CLEAR’s members already use at airports, replacing a separate physical card with a credential on the holder’s phone.
The integration is live for compatible Samsung devices.
Sources: PR Newswire
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By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team
