Digital driving licences coming to UK in 2025, report

People will be able to use smartphone app for age verification as well as proving driving credentials

The government is to introduce digital driving licences this year, to be accessed via a new smartphone app.

The licences, which will not be compulsory, will be held in a digital wallet as part of a new app which will make use of smartphone security features such as biometrics. The digital wallet will likely be used to hold credentials for other services too, including tax accounts.

The Times reports that the digital licences will be introduced later this year, and will be valid for age verification in bars and supermarket checkouts, in addition to proving driving credentials.

Currently, digital driving licences are not recognised by law, with users are required to present the physical item to prove they can drive or to authenticate themselves, meaning the new licences will require an update to the legislation.

In issuing digital driving licences the government is walking a tightrope, aware that the public has long been wary of attempts to introduce a mandatory digital ID. It will continue to issue physical licences for the foreseeable future, while simultaneously looking to enhance digital alternatives. In 2022, the government set up a new department called the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes to the use of trusted digital identity services in the UK.

The Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) plans to introduce a new "Share my driving licence" feature in March 2025, which will allow people to generate share codes within their account. This would enable the rapid sharing of credentials, for example with car rental agencies, for whom processing physical documents represents a bottleneck.

Digital driving licences are already valid in Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Australia as well as in some US states.

The EU's European Digital Identity Regulation, which comes into force in 2026, requires member states to offer digital wallets that can link national digital identities with proof of other personal attributes (driver’s licence, qualifications, bank account, health card), with the ability to prove identity and share electronic documents simply by using a smartphone.

As in the UK, their use by citizens will remain a matter of choice.