Digital driving licences are coming to the UK: what you need to know
The UK government is set to introduce digital driving licences in a bid to “transform public services”.
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By Ben Welham
Last updated: 20 January 2025
As part of a way to modernise the country, the UK government has set out plans to introduce digital driving licences.
This comes following criteria set by the European Union stating that each member country must introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026.
How will digital driving licences work?
The digitalised version of your driving licence will live in a new government smartphone app and can be used to show proof of age, voting, boarding domestic flights and driving-related instances.
It will work the same as many banking apps, so only the genuine owner will be able to access it via biometrics such as a fingerprint, face recognition or passkey.
Having a virtual driving licence means you don’t need to carry around a physical card with you and will work similarly to Apple Pay or Google Wallet – payment tech many people are already using.
You can of course choose not to have it and stick to your physical card like before, or simply use both types.
When will digital driving licences arrive?
New digital driving licences are set to be introduced by the end of the year, in time for 2026.
They already exist in Australia, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and some US states, so it’s only natural they come to the United Kingdom too.