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Ohio rolls out digital driver’s licenses, state IDs for iPhone users

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Ohio will now let residents — at least, those with an iPhone — add their driver’s license or state identification card to their digital wallet.

Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles made the announcement Tuesday afternoon from the lobby of John Glenn International Airport in Columbus. Surrounding them, travelers dragging luggage came and went, some hurrying off to a nearby Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

A person scans a digital ID at a TSA check using an iPhone.
At John Glenn International, a TSA agent and one of Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s aides participate in a demonstration of tap-to-scan technology.[ Sarah Donaldson | Statehouse News Bureau]
That TSA checkpoint and others at John Glenn and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport now offer a tap to scan process for Ohioans who choose to add their digital ID to their wallet.

More information about how to do so can be found here, but it’s user-friendly, Husted said.

“I did it all by myself,” he said. “It was easy and simple. I’ve texted a few people. They’ve done it. It’s been easy and simple for them. And I know that we will have, I’m sure, by tomorrow thousands of people who will have done the same thing.”

Only four other states have launched the same feature, DeWine and Husted said, and it’s not just for flying.

The state has encouraged bars, restaurants and other businesses to participate. If those establishments already have tap to pay, the tap to scan technology can process digital IDs.

But it’s not an overnight rollout. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Ohio’s five other commercial airports are not among the airports nationwide piloting the program.

Ohioans shouldn’t grab their car keys without their physical license yet, either. BMV Registrar Charlie Norman said driving with just the digital version isn’t allowed — and if a police officer asks to see identification, they’ll still be looking for a plastic card.

So far, the digital wallet feature is only available in the Apple Wallet on iPhones and Apple Watches. Android is next, Husted said.