An app offering Louisiana motorists to carry an electronic copy of their driver’s license on smartphones is now free for purchase through the month of May.
The app called LA Wallet was the result of a bill passed in the 2016 session of the state legislature. The normal fee involved with installing the digital license app is $5.99 and was waived to encourage more drivers to purchase the app.
Once installing the app, a confirmation email is received. According to the email, “As part of an initiative to provide Louisiana citizens with better personal safety and security practices, the State has worked with Envoc, creators of LA Wallet, to offer digital licenses for free until the end of May 2019.”
The email continued, “This initiative by the State and LA Wallet is an effort to provide Louisiana citizens with better tools to validate another citizen’s identity. Recent reports have indicated that personal safety has become a greater concern regarding rideshares, home delivery, and other online person-to-person activities. LA Wallet digital identities are retrieved in real-time from the State’s databases, and with VerifyYou™, LA Wallet users can scan another LA Wallet user’s license or scan the AAMVA code on the back of a physical license. Within seconds, LA Wallet’s VerifyYou™ system validates another citizen’s name, age, and reports whether the license is valid and up-to-date. LA Wallet digital driver’s licenses are valid for the life of the user’s physical license, which is up to six years. Once a user’s physical license expires, he or she must renew his or her physical license and purchase a new digital license.”
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TONY MARKS Associate Editor