Overview

Plaid IDV now includes DMV/Secretary of State Validation as part of its identity verification suite. This feature runs driver’s license data through the AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators) network, which connects directly with state DMVs to confirm whether the information provided is legitimate. Learn more about AAMVA here.

This check is designed for high-risk scenarios where preventing fraudulent ID usage is critical at any cost. Once enabled, results from the AAMVA check will appear in the Document Verification card within the results on the Plaid dashboard.

Note: DMV/Secretary of State Validation checks are currently available in beta at no cost. They can be enabled via self-service in the Plaid dashboard. Pricing will be shared with clients once the feature reaches General Availability.

Supported States

Plaid’s DMV and AAMVA driver’s license verification does not currently cover all 50 states. The service extends to 44 states as of August 2025, with a handful excluded due to lack of participation in the AAMVA DL/DV program or because those states do not provide the necessary API access. The states not supported at this time are California, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.

The up to date IT Systems Participation Map can be found here.

Expected Response

The AAMVA driver’s license check does not return a simple binary real or fake response. Instead, each attribute provided, such as date of birth, ID number, or first name, is compared against state DMV records and given its own match status.

Results can be returned as “match”, which indicates an exact match to DMV records, “partial_match”, which is typically used for names with phonetic similarities (for example, Jeffrey vs. Geoffrey), “no_match”, meaning the provided value does not align with the DMV record, or “no_data”, which indicates that the attribute is not available in the DMV record or could not be extracted from the document.

Each attribute (e.g., date_of_birth, id_number, first_name) returns its own match status:

• "match": Exact match to state DMV records

• "partial_match": For names, a phonetic similarity (e.g., Jeffrey vs Geoffrey)

• "no_match": Provided value does not match DMV record

• "no_data": Attribute not available in DMV record or could not be extracted from the document