We use our phones for more than just a phone call. They’re our wallet, radio, encyclopaedia, and personal cinema. If we can do almost everything with our phones, why not use them as our ID?
A Digital ID is your ID on your phone and your data in your hands, replacing your physical documents, and giving you a smarter way to show your ID. Once you’ve created it, you’ll be ready to prove your age, protect your passwords and connect with confidence online.
With the popularity of Digital IDs continuing to grow and being accepted in more places, it becomes increasingly hard to imagine a future without Digital IDs. But let’s try…
Holding up the checkout queue
Picture the scene, you’re hosting a party for your friends and it’s your turn to get the drinks in. You’ve already been around the supermarket, filled your basket with snacks and drinks for later, waited in line and scanned your items through the checkout. It’s ID time but it’s in your sock drawer at home instead of in your hands.
The store assistant is coming over and when you’re asked to show some ID, it will be game over. You’ll be going home but the case of beer and bottles of bubbly won’t. If you were planning to grab some Paracetamol for the following morning, that will also have to wait.
Without your Digital ID, the pain points for your weekly shop soon stack up. Why make life difficult for yourself? With your ID on your phone, you can breeze through the self-checkout like you’re on an episode of supermarket sweep. No more waiting for assistance, being turned away or facing an awkward conversation with the store attendant.
New(ish) phone, who is this?
You’ve been on the lookout for that new iPhone for so long and you’ve finally found it! You’re going to buy a second-hand one online and meet up with the seller to exchange the money and get your new-ish phone in person.
But you start having doubts about the seller as they seem shady. What if it’s a scam? How can you be sure they are legit?
You don’t want to be a nuisance and ask them for some kind of proof or evidence, so you take the risk and go ahead with the exchange. After all, scams affect other people, not you…
You meet up in the agreed public place, they bring the phone, and it’s just what you were looking for – so you hand over the money, and the deal’s done. Thankfully, this time it all worked out but who’s to say the next second-hand deal goes as smoothly?
A Digital ID takes care of any of those initial doubts either of you may have had about the other person, as you could have asked the seller to swap verified information with you ahead of meeting up.
Trouble catching a catfish
Love is in the air. You’ve met someone on a dating app and it’s all going so well.
Trust is at the centre of all relationships, and it should be no different online. You feel like you know this person but recently, things haven’t been stacking up. They were really reluctant when you asked to see some snaps from their latest holiday, and they always seem busy when you ask to meet up.
How can you be sure they are who they say they are? What if it’s another Tinder Swindler situation? You’ve read about romance fraud being one of the most prolific ways scammers target people, with hopeless romantics scammed out of nearly £100m last year. You can’t afford to risk losing your savings.
It seems like the only way to protect your heart and your finances is to stop chatting with people online, but this doesn’t have to be the case.
With the Yoti or Easy ID apps, you can verify who you’re speaking with, such as via the Fluttr app, the UK’s first dating app that requires users to be verified. With full biometric ID verification available from Yoti, users can swipe in peace, knowing exactly who they’re chatting with.
FOMO on nights out
We’ve all been there – you’ve planned a big night out with your pals, you’ve paid for the surge-priced taxi and you’re ready to hit the dancefloor. You’re not ready to show your ID though…
You’ve all been talking about this night out for ages so you really don’t want to miss out. The only solution is to head all the way home to get your passport or driving licence, and then pay for another taxi back to the club. You’ve already spent a fortune and you haven’t even ordered a drink yet.
It’s just not convenient to whip out a passport each and every time you need to show some ID. With a Digital ID, it’s one less thing to worry about. It’s pretty unlikely you’re going to leave your phone behind when you’re setting off, especially since it’s a content collector made for nights like this.
New job admin and mountains of paperwork
Getting a new job can be tough, but having to prove your right to work can be tougher.
You need to fill in all of the paperwork and send copies of your ID documents to your new employer so that they can complete the necessary checks. This sounds simple enough but you don’t even have a printer or scanner, so you take a photo of your passport page and then attach this to an email. You might forget to then delete this photo of your passport, which is fraught with dangers in itself.
Thanks to new Home Office guidelines introduced in April 2022, if you’re a UK or Irish citizen, you can use the Yoti and EasyID apps to prove your identity. A much simpler way to prove your right to work; identity details can be sent from the comfort of your home and your phone. This is particularly useful for contractors and temporary workers who need to do this regularly.
Passport’s gone on holiday
Time and time again we’re asked to confirm our identity, prove our age or show some ID. This could be to open a bank account, buy a pack of beer, collect a parcel or apply for a job. For most of us, we’ll carry our driving licence in our purses or wallet, or grab our passports on our way out the door, but frankly, they were not designed for this.
A passport allows you to go on holiday or travel for work, and a driving licence proves you’re eligible to drive a car. It doesn’t make sense that we’re asked to show a whole passport page or driving licence just to prove our age.
We all know a passport can be easily lost or stolen. In fact, this happens more often than you might think – around 400,000 of these important documents disappear each year. You’ve then got the hassle of applying for a replacement passport and forking out £75.50 for a new one. You’ve also got to wait for the new one to arrive in the post, so if you’ve booked a last-minute holiday, you better hope your new passport arrives on time.
But why take the risk and carry these important documents around with you? With a Digital ID, you can store scans of your important documents, such as passports, safely and securely. No need to worry about scammers getting your details, as only you can access your encrypted vault via biometric authentication or a 5-digit PIN.
It’s time to embrace the power of Digital IDs
Watch an age-rated film at the cinema, open a bank account, prove your right to work, grab an energy drink or buy a lottery ticket from your local shop. Check who you’re talking to online or prove your age at the self-checkout without waiting for assistance.
Whenever you see the EasyID or Yoti logos, you can prove who you are using either app and have a smarter way to share your details.
And whilst we can’t do all of them today, the number of ways we can use a Digital ID continues to grow. It’s time to embrace the power of Digital IDs and make sure you don’t get left behind.