Have you ever been pulled over by the police and realised you had forgotten your licence at home? Well if you are in New Zealand this wouldn’t be a problem.
New Zealand government Chief Digital Officer, Paul James, started work on an app that will let you have a digital wallet where you can keep your digital driver licence. New Zealand has just updated the government app in mid March 2026 to include a brand new digital wallet. Which now in mid May can hold a digital drivers license.
This will be followed by secured messaging directly to the government on a planned update coming in June or July. The current version 2.0 is available on Apple and Android. The government app was first released in 2025. Because some people are doubtful about the app, the government said you don’t have to have a digital license, you can keep your physical one if you want to.
As digital identification is now legal we will likely see more countries start using digital licenses to make things easier.
Article Written by Arielle Perry
references
https://www.digital.govt.nz/digital-government/key-areas-of-work/government-app-programme
