Digital driving licences that drivers can access on phones are to be introduced this year, according to reports.
Ministers are due to announce the plans this week, according to The Times, with the digital licence expected to be available within a virtual wallet in a government app.
Physical licences will still be available alongside the digital option, which will not be mandatory.
Ministers said the move would “drag the Government into the 2020s”.
A government spokesperson said: “This government is committed to using technology to make people’s lives easier and transform public services.
“Technology now makes it possible for digital identities to be more secure than physical ones, but we remain clear that they will not be made mandatory.”
The digital licences would be available for use as ID for voting, boarding domestic flights and buying alcohol.
The Government is also said to be exploring integrating other services into the app, such as tax payments and benefits claims, but won’t go as far as compulsory national ID cards, as mooted by former prime minister Tony Blair and William Hague.
The app will come built with “robust” security measures as seen in many banking apps, and smartphone features such as biometric scanning and multifactor authentication will also be implemented, according to reports.
Similar initiatives are already in use in Australia, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, as well as some US states.
In the European Union, every member state is required to introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026.
