Utah Community CU to Test Mobile Driver’s Licenses
The state and a vendor picked the credit union for the pilot that starts June 29.
Utah’s third-largest credit union will test a state driver’s license that exists on a person’s mobile phone and can be read by nearby devices of the credit union and other vendors to confirm a person’s identity.
Utah Community Credit Union of Provo ($2.4 billion in assets, 218,780 members) will host events June 29 at its Draper branch and June 30 at its Lehi branch, where members can sign up to become the first state residents to sign up for a mobile driver’s license (mDLs).
The pilot will initially include 100 select Utah residents and expand to 10,000 participants including the broader public this year. A valid Utah driver’s license is required for mDL registration.
GET Group North America of Waltham, Mass., and the Utah Driver License Division jointly announced this week that the credit union will be the state’s first financial institution equipped to accept mobile driver’s licenses as a legal form of identification for all banking transactions.
Chris Caras, director of the Driver License Division for the State of Utah Department of Public Safety, said Utah Community “jumped to the front of the pack to accept Utah mDL.”
Justin Olson, chief information officer for the credit union, said standardized mobile IDs provide a more convenient, safe and secure means for members to share their identity information.
“It has long seemed logical for driver’s licenses and IDs to follow the path of credit cards, and so many other parts of life, by going mobile,” Olson said. “The pandemic has really accelerated our pursuit of ways to enable contactless exchanges of information and improve our customer service.”
Utah Community’s first step in the state’s pilot program was to adopt contactless identification financial transactions that are completed with a quick tap or scan of the phone, instead of requiring the phone to change hands.
Utah is the first state to pilot an mDL that is fully compliant with international standards that ensure citizens can use it globally as a legal form of identification.
Utah is using GET Mobile Administrator to issue optional mobile driver’s licenses to the state’s mDL pilot participants. The technology relies on other devices having the ability to decode an electronic identification on the phone. The technology is designed to allow users to control the data they choose to share, limiting it to what is needed to complete a banking transaction.
The state’s website said the mDL is reached through an app that users download to their phone or other mobile device. Credit unions, grocery stores or others must use a reader that will request, receive and verify the integrity and authenticity of the mDL by accessing the Utah Driver License Division’s information infrastructure.
“The primary benefit the mDL will offer Utahans is enhanced privacy by minimizing the amount of personal data they share, in contrast to what they now share when handing over a physical card,” the state’s website said. “For example, when using a mDL to prove one’s age, the mDL holder can limit data release to only a portrait image and the fact that the mDL holder is older than 18. Other major advantages include the ability to update information frequently, and to authenticate information at a high level of confidence.”
Utah’s mDL uses standards outlined by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators in their mDL Implementation Guidelines and established by the International Organization for Standards.