UK Developing Digital Driving License Stored in Apple Wallet App

  by Juli Clover

In the future, drivers in the United Kingdom may be able to store their driver's licenses digitally in Apple's Wallet app, bringing Apple one step closer to fully replacing the traditional physical wallet.

Oliver Morley, CEO of the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, showed off a prototype version of a digital driving license on Twitter this morning (via The Independent). In the image, the Wallet app on the iPhone was shown with a virtual copy of a UK driving license, stored right next to other Wallet cards.

So here's a little prototype of something we're working on #drivinglicence pic.twitter.com/a5eItrdiNI

— Oliver Morley (@omorley1) May 13, 2016

According to Morley, the feature is still a prototype and will not serve as a full replacement for a driving license, but an add-on, with its implementation possible following the discontinuation of a paper driving license counterpart in June of 2015. Security is one of the main priorities for the introduction of the digital driving license in the UK. Should the digital driving license feature be introduced in the United Kingdom, it's not a stretch to imagine it also being introduced in additional countries like the United States as the digital wallet concept grows in popularity. In fact, at least one state in the United States is already testing the idea - in 2014, Iowa said it was working on a digital app that would allow customers to use digital ID cards instead of physical cards.