Credential portability refers to the ability to use your verifiable digital credentials across various systems, jurisdictions, wallets, and contexts without compromising their validity or requiring custom integrations. It is what makes digital identity truly useful, ensuring that a credential issued in one place is recognized and accepted wherever it is needed.
Why portability matters
Without portability, verifiable digital credentials risk becoming siloed, useful only within specific systems or regions. A mobile driver's license that works at California airports but not in Arizona bars provides limited value. A digital diploma that one employer can verify but another cannot creates friction instead of removing it.
True portability means your California mDL is recognized at TSA checkpoints nationwide. Your digital diploma from a European university is trusted by a U.S. employer. Your professional license works across state lines. Portability transforms credentials from isolated digital documents into universally useful proofs.
How portability is achieved
Portability depends on open standards and trust frameworks. When credentials are issued in widely adopted formats, such as ISO 18013-5 for mDLs and W3C Verifiable Credentials for general-purpose credentials, any conforming verifier can accept them. Interoperability testing ensures that different implementations work together correctly.
Trust frameworks, such as AAMVA's Digital Trust Service, provide the governance layer that enables cross-jurisdictional acceptance. These frameworks establish which issuers are trusted, how credentials should be verified, and what level of assurance they provide.
Multi-format issuance extends portability further. Some programs explore the issuance of identity data in multiple interoperable representations, such as ISO mDL formats and VC-style ecosystems, depending on the needs and policy constraints of the relying party.
Portability across wallets
Credential portability also applies to moving between wallet applications. Holders should be able to move credentials between wallets, just as they can move SIM cards between phones. If wallets become walled gardens that lock in credentials, user trust erodes, and the ecosystem fragments.
Open standards support this by defining how credentials are structured and verified independent of any specific wallet implementation. Certification programs can ensure that certified wallets meet interoperability requirements, giving holders confidence that their credentials remain portable.
The path forward
Portability necessitates ongoing coordination among standards bodies, governments, and implementers. The more jurisdictions and industries align on common formats and trust frameworks, the more valuable verifiable digital credentials become. The goal is credentials that work everywhere, on the holder's terms: portable, private, and under individual control.
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