DVLA reveals plans for smartphone driving licence

The DVLA has revealed it is working on a smartphone based digital driving licence after a prototype was revealed by the authority's chief executive Oliver Morley on Twitter.

The teaser uses an iPhone as an example and shows a card resembling the current licence stored away in the Apple Wallet – an app many already use to store boarding passes, tickets and credit cards for ApplePay.

The move is indicative of the "significant" steps forward in mobile security, as phones can now store credit and debit card information, and support secure digital payments, analyst Ben Wood told the BBC. A "framework" is now in place for the digital licences.

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"There are not many people in the UK who do not carry a smartphone with them every day, so it is a logical next step", he said

Last year, the paper counterpart driving licence was scrapped as part of a Government drive to reduce red tape. According to Auto Express, the DVLA says that ridding drivers of the counterpart licence has made this latest project possible.

The licence we've been left with since the death of the counterpart won't become obsolete though – the DVLA says that the digital licence will complement the current plastic cards rather than replace them outright, but there's currently no timeframe in place as to when the digital roll-out will begin.

The Mail says that digitalisation of key personal documents will eventually go beyond the driving licence too, one day extending to your passport. Earlier this year, De La Rue – the company responsible for making British banknotes and passports – announced their intention to digitalise the document so it can be stored on a smartphone.

Boarding passes are already available on mobile devices, so it could mean that all you'll need to board a plane in the near future is your device. The paperless passport is still in development and the company is "finding ways" to make the digital document secure enough to be accepted by governments.