Here’s one of the coolest pieces of news I’ve had to report here in some time: Digital drivers licenses are about to arrive. In 2015, the state of Iowa will likely become the first in the nation to launch a smartphone-based drivers license, the Iowa Gazette is reporting.
The app, created by The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT), is meant to serve as a legal substitute for a physical license in official business inside the state. It will have all the same information in password-protected form, plus a rotating photo of the driver. Once the free app is complete and made widely available, the new digital license will be accepted at traffic stops and for identification purposes while traveling through Iowa airports.
“It really opens up the doorway I think for a lot of different types of transactions from its utilization,” said IDOT Director Paul Trombino. “Most people do a lot of functions off their phone and really live off their phone. What (the digital driver’s license) does is it allows you to have your driver’s license all the time.”
Indeed, we may be fast approaching the day when physical wallets are made obsolete. Already, Apple Pay allows iPhone owners the ability to pay for groceries, coffee, fast food and more using your phone; Google Wallet lets Android users do the same. You can even get inside your house and start your car using a smartphone, officially killing off the keys-wallet-phone checklist you run through every time you leave the house.
