The Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control has certified the LA Wallet app, a digital version of your driver’s license, for alcohol and Tobacco purchases. ATC Commissioner Juana Marine Lombard says it’s up to retailers whether they want to accept digital IDs, but interested businesses have been training their staff to be ready to accept the digital ID.
“Just like they are trained on how to read IDs and how to spot fake IDs and where to look for the minimum age on the ID, they are trained when they are getting their bar license from here on how to use a digital ID.”
Lombard says they’ve been working closely with the DMV and Envoc, the company that created the app, to make sure it was secure, and could not be manipulated by a particularly craft under age kid to buy alcohol. She says a fake digital ID would be incredibly hard to pull off.
“If you check it properly it links in real time back to our DMV system, so unless they’ve managed to hack the whole thing, it actually think it is probably more secure.”
Lombard says digital IDs are the way of the future, and she says Louisiana is the only state to have a digital license that lets you purchase an adult beverage.
“When it is used properly it is both convenient for the individual, as well as it saves some time for the bar owner.”
The app, which costs 5.99 to activate, launched in app stores on all major platforms in July of 2018.
