Illinois residents are working to get digital driver’s licenses and ID’s on their phones, and while some have experienced issues, it’s a new era in the state.
The excitement around the new program hit a crescendo on Wednesday, the first day they were available. In fact, it was so popular that the process became the equivalent of a digital DMV, as a waiting line formed for people applying for one.
Fortunately for residents, the backlog has now cleared and you can move your physical driver’s license to your iPhone with a minimum of hassle. It’s not as easy as adding a credit card to ApplePay, but it is similar.
For now, only Apple users can take advantage of the new digital ID’s. If you live in the Google Wallet or Samsung Wallet universes, you will have to wait for those services to come online.
So, what do you need? Essentially, your iPhone, your driver’s license and a face…that’s it.
For the first step, the iPhone, launch the “Wallet” app and touch the “plus” icon in the upper right corner. From the choices available, pick “Add a Driver’s license or digital ID,” and Illinois is now included among the dozen or so choices.
-After that, residents can touch the Abraham Lincoln icon and you will get to a screen that says “scan the front of your ID.” Frame you current driver’s license in the rectangle and follow the instructions. Your phone should snap the photos for you notifying you with a tone and a vibration. Take the photo of the front and then do the same for the back of your license.
Your iPhone will ask you to take a live selfie and a series of photos of your head with various expressions and looking in different directions: head on, with your eyes closed and with your head looking up or off to one side.
Now you want to authenticate your information. You do that through face ID or touch ID. They must be enabled for the process to proceed.
Finally hit “submit.”
Now you wait. It will take a few minutes for your new digital ID to be verified.
Once it is, you will get a notification when your ID is ready to use.
To use it, double click on the side button or the “home” button and point your phone at the reader. The state is rolling out its own app to read the encrypted data from your digital ID to help stores and venues verify the information. The digital driver’s license is not valid for every instance where you would carry an actual driver’s license, so residents are asked to still hold onto their cards as a back-up plan.
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