You can now add a virtual copy of your driver’s license to the Google wallet app on your phone.
The Iowa DOT’s Toni Smith says it’s a simple process. “All you need to do is you go to the Google Wallet icon on your device, you click on add to wallet, you click on ID, you tap on drivers license or state ID. You tap on Iowa and then you just follow the on screen instructions,” Smith says.
Smith says if you do add the virtual driver’s license you should still keep the regular license with you. “Not all businesses accept mobile ID just yet. So we always tell folks to keep your physical credential with you as well,” she says. The DOT first offered the mobile ID in their app on iOS and Android phones, and then launched in Apple Wallet and Samsung Wallet.
“Within the state of Iowa, we’ve got probably somewhere around 112, 115,000 people enrolled,” she says. “We’re we’re definitely seeing uptick in mobile mobile ID, mobile DL across the U.S., as there are 18 states that currently have it.” Smith says more than 200 airports across the U.S. accept the mobile ID.
Smith says they have a security process when you add the driver’s license to the wallett to be sure you are not trying to use a fake ID. “You scan the front and back of your ID card, and then you also take a selfie or short video to go along with it, and that information is sent to the Iowa DOT to bump up against your system of record. So whoever’s enrolling it, we ensure you are who you say you are when you enroll,” Smith explains. Smith says more and more people are moving toward digital versions of things like credit cards, hotel keys and insurance cards, and this is an option as well if you want it.
“It’s voluntary to have a mobile ID and it is voluntary for businesses to accept mobile ID’s. And we’ve got some great information for businesses on our website too if they want to get information on how to go about accepting a mobile ID,” Smith says.
Find out more at iowadot.gov.