Which Types of IDs Can AAMVA Verification Check?

AAMVA verification primarily checks U.S. driver’s licenses and, in some cases, state-issued ID cards. It ensures that these documents are valid, current, and issued by a recognized DMV authority.

Why Does AAMVA Verification Matter?

AAMVA verification helps businesses prevent fraud, comply with KYC and U.S. regulatory requirements, as well as verify user identities quickly , especially in industries where the key identifier is a driver’s license, such as car sharing and transportation. It’s also useful as a verification method, for example, before high-risk transactions or updating sensitive personal information.

How Does an Online Driver’s License Check Work?

The process usually involves a few key steps: the user uploads a photo of their driver’s license, the system extracts key details like name and date of birth, verifies the document against security features or databases, and can perform a selfie or live video check to confirm identity. Providers like iDenfy offer customizable workflows that combine ID verification, liveness checks, and database cross-checks, such as AAMVA, for extra accuracy and a smooth user experience.

Can AAMVA Verification Detect Fake IDs?

Yes. AAMVA verification can identify expired, forged, or altered licenses . When combined with liveness checks and face matching, it’s considered to be the most effective driver’s license verification method, ensuring that personal details match AAMVA’s records and that the person submitting the ID is the legitimate holder.

What is a Driver’s License Check and How Does it Differ from AAMVA Verification?

A driver’s license check is the process of verifying the authenticity and validity of a driver’s license, often including ID data inspection, document surface analysis, and optional liveness or selfie verification. While AAMVA verification specifically cross-checks license data against official DMV records, a full driver’s license check can combine multiple KYC methods to verify a user’s identity and prevent fraud.

What is AAMVA Verification? [Driver’s License Check]

A driver’s license is a key element in standard identity verification, or Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, where the user is asked to capture their ID document as proof of identity before accessing services provided by regulated, high-risk industries, such as banking or crypto. It’s a popular document type among many, especially since it’s a convenient and vital credential to have in your pocket when driving a vehicle.

When it comes to this particular document type and especially the sharing mobility sector in the U.S., database verification via the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) system is considered the most reliable way because it connects to official records, cross-checking the driver’s license details against Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records. If there’s no match, the user isn’t verified since their provided details don’t match the information stored and logged safely in the DMV database. That means forged driver’s licenses are immediately detected.

What else is there to know? We break it down in our guide on AAMVA verification.

What is AAMVA?

AAMVA, or the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, is a U.S.-based non-profit organization designed to provide a unified system that collects information from motor vehicle and law enforcement agencies across all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, and parts of Canada.

For the most part, AAMVA’s goal is to:

Promote highway safety and improve vehicle administration processes
Maintain accurate information systems that would help companies verify drivers’ identities.

In the context of KYC and driver’s license verification, it serves as a trusted source used for cross-referencing data and matching it directly with state DMV databases to confirm whether a) the driver’s license is valid; and b) the user’s personal details match the official records.

What is AAMVA Verification?

AAMVA verification is the process of using an AI-powered ID verification system designed to verify the user’s driver’s license document via the AAMVA system, which uses official DMV records in the U.S. It flags inconsistencies in personal data (extracted from the document) by cross-checking the official records and matching them to see if everything’s correct.

That’s how the AAMVA check helps flag discrepancies and ensure that only real. Verified drivers access different apps, such as delivery or car-sharing services.

How AAMVA Verification Works

In practice, AAMVA verification consists of a few steps, usually carried out in this order:

The user takes out their driver’s license, putting it into the frame and allowing the AI-powered system to catch a photo of their driver’s license.
The system then extracts key personal details such as the user’s name, date of birth, license expiration date, and other security elements, such as the PDF417 barcode.
This data is automatically compared via AAMVA with records from the DMV, which stores up-to-date and valid driver’s license information. If the details match, the license is verified as legitimate.

What Kind of Information Does AAMVA Verification Cross-Match?

Most AAMVA verification solutions streamline access to official issuing databases, cross-matching the main KYC details. In practice, that means you can compare information collected from a user’s ID with AAMVA’s system, such as:

Full name
Gender
Date of birth
ID or license number
Issue and expiration dates
State of issuance

For example, if someone uploads a forged license, the system will flag it because its details won’t match the information stored in the DMV database. Ultimately, in cases like this, companies decide what to do next, customizing their workflow. For instance, rejecting the user, allowing a reverificatiton attempt, or reviewing the document manually.

When Can I Use AAMVA Verification?

AAMVA checks are great for verifying user identities before onboarding (for example, before applying for insurance or registering for working on a food delivery platform) and as a security measure when reverification (after the user is already onboarded and becomes part of the ecosystem) is required due to high-risk cases, for example, when reaching a tax reporting threshold or when the user has an account and wants to change important personal information, such as their personal address. In such cases, the system can automatically trigger an AAMVA check if the user provides a U.S. driver’s license.

However, the concrete use case depends on the company and its internal risk workflow. Other examples where AAMVA verification can be used include scenarios like:

If a user fails a standard ID document verification (for example, using a passport), AAMVA verification can be used as an alternative KYC method to verify the authenticity of the driver’s license directly with DMV records.
If AAMVA verification is enabled for high-risk customers or triggered automatically through custom workflows. This can apply to scenarios like when the company also uses fraud prevention software and monitoring systems that flag suspicious user behavior, for example, suspicious logins from unfamiliar locations or devices.

Businesses often integrate AAMVA verification solutions through easily implemented APIs other no-code integrations that help reduce fraud, protect their reputation, and avoid legal issues in case of incidents involving their drivers.

Why is AAMVA Verification Important?

AAMVA verification is important because it helps companies juggle the balance between good user experience and accuracy. It makes the ID verification process both efficient and reliable. The user doesn’t have to manually enter their personal information, but provides their driver’s license remotely, and allows the AI-powered system to automate access to official records, in this case, the AAMVA database, powered by real, up-to-date DMV records.

In general, many platforms that need to verify driver identity in the U.S. choose AAMVA verification as the main KYC onboarding method due to:

Better accuracy rates. Since information is extracted and cross-matched, this approach allows to detect document forgery while improving fraud prevention without adding unnecessary friction to the end-user’s side.
A good combination with other KYC methods. Paired with biometric verification, AAMVA checks create a fully compliant, highly effective way to verify identities, especially before user onboarding or allowing the user to access the services they’re registering for.

This makes AAMVA checks one of the most reliable and efficient verification methods available for driver’s licenses in the U.S. For example, for apps like Uber that require KYC on their drivers to see if they’re eligible to drive and work for the business. Naturally, AAMVA verification ensures compliance and helps prevent accidents caused by unqualified drivers.

The Key Benefits of AAMVA Verification

Since AAMVA connects directly to DMV systems, this sort of approach to KYC provides instant and accurate results without the need for lengthy, manual driver’s license checks. It helps detect lost, expired, stolen, or forged licenses by confirming whether the captured personal data exists and matches federal standards.

Ultimately, elements that highlight the benefits of AAMVA verification include:

1. High-Quality, Government-Backed Driver’s License Data

Using AAMVA verification, companies can verify that the user’s personal details are legitimate and actually exist within an official government database. AAMVA operates the Driver’s License Data Verification (DLVD) system, which connects to the DMV, holding the most accurate records for driver’s licenses issued in the U.S. This ensures that only cross-matched data is approved by the issuing authorities and verified for user onboarding.

2. Simple, Automated Access to Different State Records

Using an AAMVA solution like iDenfy, you automate the whole driver’s license verification process. That means there’s no need to Google around for hours and try to access separate DMV databases for each client or applicant. AAMVA’s system handles almost every state’s records and has a consistent, up-to-date driver’s license verification system that can be accessed through a few clicks. Once the user completes the process, verification results are provided in seconds. They show whether each data point, such as the user’s name or the license’s expiration date, matches AAMVA’s official records.

3. Real-Time Detection of Missmatches and Forged Data

Automated AAMVA checks beat traditional manual driver’s license checks due to a more accurate and more effective red flag detection. Since AAMVA compares the user’s submitted data against official records in seconds, it can also catch attempts to slip through with tampered or forged licenses. Forged document numbers, birthdates or names all translate to mismatches in the system, making it much harder for fraudsters to use a modified card or even synthetic identity fraud when two layers of KYC (document + biometric or document + database verification are used).

Related: How Does Driver’s License Verification Work?

Why You Should Use iDenfy’s AAMVA Verification API

Manually looking up different state databases just to compare driver’s license information isn’t a scalable solution, especially for fast-paced, scaling business environments with a big user base. In contrast, automated, fully remote driving license verification solutions reduce onboarding friction, increase conversion rates, and help you meet regulatory requirements with minimal effort.

All things considered, iDenfy’s AAMVA Verification offers a bunch of important elements that both cater to internal KYC teams and users who are asked to complete the driver’s license check and don’t want to struggle with complexity:

Real-time driver’s license check, typically completed in 40 seconds on average
Detection of forged or expired driver’s licenses
Face matching and liveness checks to prevent fraud, such as generative AI fraud
Customizable KYC workflows based on the user’s risk profile, document type, or specific country
Extra solutions within the same workflow, such as the Criminal Background Check to verify the driver’s criminal history and see if they’re eligible to work
Multi-industry adoption, from mobility and delivery to insurance and staffing
Multiple integration options that adapt to your branding (fonts, logos, etc.) and user experience (low-risk customers go through a simple flow, high-risk customers are asked to complete extra checks)

At iDenfy, we provide you with the needed flexibility to shape the KYC process how you want: add AAMVA checks for U.S. driver’s licenses only, or trigger this workflow only for specific use cases, such as onboarding drivers on a sharing mobility app, among many other custom scenarios that can easily become a reality through swift and simple API solutions.

Want to see our AAMVA Verification solution in action? Book a free demo.