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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Community Credit Union will be the state's first financial institution to accept mobile driver's licenses for all banking transactions shortly after Utah became the first state to pilot the program, the Utah Department of Public Safety announced Tuesday.
The mobile driver's license program was created to provide contactless ID banking transactions that don't forgo safety, security and accuracy. The program allows banking with a tap or a scan, allowing the phone to never change hands. Utah is the first state with a mobile driver's license program that is in line with international standards and allows citizens to use it as a legal form of identification, according to the department.
"UCCU jumped to the front of the pack to accept Utah mDL, and we're thrilled to announce UCCU as the first of a series of pioneers to accept mDL and help us realize the vision of trusted mobile identities accepted across our great state," said Chris Caras, director of the Driver License Division, in a statement.
During the pilot program, UCCU will use GET Mobile Verify. The use of the mobile driver's license program is meant to preserve the privacy of Utah residents and allow agencies to confirm the identity and eliminate the subjectivity of visually checking the ID, according to the public safety department.
UCCU's implementation of the mobile driver's license program helps move the program to the next stage, helping push other entities to use a reader that will receive and verify the mobile licenses. The Utah Driver's License Division says it is working to make the use of mobile driver's licenses more widespread and are working with entities to ensure their acceptance.
"We are excited to be a pioneer in Utah's mDL pilot, as we believe standardized mobile IDs provide a more convenient, safe and secure means for our members to entrust their identity information to us," Justin Olson, UCCU information officer, said in a statement. "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. The pandemic has really accelerated our pursuit of ways to enable contactless exchanges of information and improve our customer service."
The pilot program will include 100 Utah residents with the potential of expanding the program to 10,000 participants later in the year, according to the public safety department.
