Iowa Mobile I-D App Available For Smartphones

(Radio Iowa) State officials say there’s a FREE “Iowa Mobile I-D” app for smartphones now. It creates a digital version of an Iowa driver’s license or state-issued I-D. Toni Smith is the emerging technology manager at the Iowa D-O-T. She says the app is available in the Apple Store for iPhones and in Google Play for Android smartphones.

There was a soft launch of the app this summer. Smith used her mobile I-D last week as she went through the T-S-A precheck at the Des Moines airport.

 

Mobile I-Ds are now accepted at the airports in both Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, as well as many other U-S airports. Smith says the Mobile I-D is accepted at some businesses, but it requires a scanner that can read the unique Q-R code that’s generated for each individual who has a Mobile I-D.

 

The Iowa D-O-T’s website has information for businesses that want to give customers a Mobile I-D option. D-O-T officials emphasize you’ll still need to carry the physical card that’s your driver’s license digital version isn’t accepted as an I-D everywhere.

 

Iowa joins Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Maryland as states that are offering digital I-Ds in both the Apple and Google Wallets on smartphones.

 

A recent survey by Forbes Advisor found 53 percent of Americans are using a digital wallet more often than cash or a credit card when making purchases.