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Before you issue a credential

Before you can issue a credential, you should do the following.

Onboard with GOV.UK One Login

GOV.UK Wallet uses GOV.UK One Login to authenticate users. This process makes sure that credentials are issued into a wallet that is logged in as the same user the credential is for.

You must complete the onboarding process for GOV.UK One Login before you can issue credentials to GOV.UK Wallet. There is guidance on the GOV.UK One Login onboarding process in their technical documentation.

When you complete the GOV.UK One Login onboarding process, make sure that you have:

  • your unique client identifier - this identifier must be included as a claim (client_id) in the pre-authorised code your service generates as part of issuing a GOV.UK Wallet credential offer
  • requested that the walletSubjectId custom claim is activated for your GOV.UK One Login client - this is a pairwise identifier that will be used to prove that the user logged in to your service and GOV.UK Wallet are the same user

Agree a credential template

Before you can issue a credential, you must confirm with the GOV.UK Wallet onboarding team:

  • the credential type - this can be mDoc or JWT VC
  • which attributes are to be included in the digital credential and its schema
  • the colour of the digital card
  • whether users can have multiple instances of this credential, or only one at a time

To integrate with GOV.UK Wallet you must send the GOV.UK Wallet team:

  • your issuer URL (both integration and production)
  • your issuer logo in English and Welsh

Follow relevant standards

When you are preparing to issue a credential to GOV.UK Wallet you must align with open standards.

GOV.UK Wallet will support multiple credential formats to represent government documents. These documents can be:

GOV.UK Wallet supports OpenID Connect for Verifiable Credential Issuance (OIDC4VCI) for its issuance flow.

You should also:

  • follow the government Service Standard, for example making all information available in Welsh
  • use findings identified by your user research to meet your users’ needs

To get started, you need to authenticate users with One Login.

This page was last reviewed on 15 April 2025. It needs to be reviewed again on 15 October 2025 .