TRENDING: Digital Driver’s Licenses Put ‘Getting Carded’ On Notice

Whether at a traffic stop, purchasing age-restricted products or even boarding an airplane, consumers are used to reaching for their wallets when asked for identification. However, if digital driver’s license pilots — like those happening both in the United States and abroad — are successful, they might soon be reaching for their smartphones.

In the latest Digital Identity Tracker™, PYMNTS takes a look at digital identity credential developments from the Midwestern United States to the Australian province of New South Wales.

Around The Digital ID World

In Europe, both the European Union (EU) and its individual member states have been experimenting with digital identity credentials in recent months.

Scotland’s Improvement Service, responsible for “improving [local citizen’s] quality of life,” recently announced it would pilot test digital identification credentials. The Improvement Service recently partnered with digital ID platform Yoti to do so, which will allow citizens to prove their identities, ages or other information via a smartphone app.

For its part, the EU recently saw the latest versions of eIDEAS regulations take effect. The measures call for eSignatures to be used and accepted across the EU, and for the creation of a protocol that will make it possible for EU residents to transport their digital IDs with them when they move across borders.

Europe isn’t alone in its pursuit of digitizing identification procedures, of course.

In Australia, the provincial government of New South Wales, which oversees Southeast Australia, recently said it would expand its digital driver’s license program to more than 140,000 residents by the end of November. The program, which first rolled out last year, allows residents to use digital licenses for proof of age, roadside police checks and other related uses.

To read more about these stories and find the rest of the latest headlines from around the space, check out the Tracker’s News and Trends section.

Putting Digital Driver’s Licenses To The (Pilot) Test

The traditional plastic driver’s license has seemingly remained unchanged for decades. Now, however, a growing number of states are looking to explore electronic versions, with several U.S. states piloting their own programs.

States like Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Wyoming and even the District of Columbia are currently testing or have already piloted the use of digital driver’s licenses. These electronic credentials, available on a mobile app, could soon become a common sight, improving convenience for both consumers and law enforcement officials.

However, digital IDs won’t come without their own hurdles, with the potential of dead smartphone batteries, cracked screens and security breaches from stolen devices potentially standing in the way of broader use.

In the Digital Identity Tracker feature story, PYMNTS caught up with officials from the Wyoming Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the Colorado DMV to get an under-the-hood look at the two digital driver’s license pilot programs.

To download this month’s Digital Identity Tracker™, please fill out the form below.

About The Tracker

The Digital Identity Tracker™, produced in collaboration with Jumio, is a forum for framing and addressing key issues and trends that face the entities charged with efficiently and securely identifying, and granting permission to, individuals to access, purchase, transact or otherwise confirm their identities.