Driver's License to be the Next Debit Card

prostoalex writes "Your US driver's license has a magnetic stripe with unique ID in it, and your debit card carries a magnetic stripe with account information on it, so why not link the two together and allow people to use their driver's licenses as debit cards? That's precisely what a young company National Payment Card is doing in select locations, according to Business Week: 'Gas-station owners are pleased with the program too. Because NPC processes the payment as an e-check with the Automated Clearing House (ACH), a network most commonly used for direct deposits, participating retailers bypass credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard.'"

Comments

Re:So when your license is suspended...

[AoT]

Yeah, government and business working in collusion, more so than usual.

Just what I always wanted.

Oh, and now someone can make counterfeit licenses that double as fake debit cards.

Nah, no problems here.

Re:bad idea

[fyngyrz]

I would like to be the first to say this is a really bad idea.

I'm sorry, you're going to have to take your place in line behind all the people who think RealID is a bad idea. This just isn't quite as bad, as yet. These ideas are all very much along the same lines. They are all about consolidation of your resources, identification, and risks, and that is a bad idea in general for your safety, your privacy and your liberties.

Re:bad idea

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the difference? For most people that'd mean stealing your wallet - they'll get both pieces of information anyway.

I want a card with my driver's license, my grocery store card, my debit card, my work ID, my AAA card, and every other damn thing cluttering my account all on one card. And I want an electronic device, too, that has my cell phone, my garage door opener, my car remote, my mp3 player, and any other little bullshit electronic device on it.

Won't work in Michigan; We use Soundex

[JeffSh]

Michigan does not use privately assigned numbers for our drivers license numbers. Our drivers license numbers are calculated using a method that's not secret or random or anything.

We use a system that combines soundex codes with date of birth. You can find anyones michigan driver's license number if you know:

First name, Middle Name, Last name, Month of Birth, year of birth.

If you're from michigan, get out your driver's license and see for yourself.
http://www.highprogrammer.com/cgi-bin/uniqueid/dl_ mi

There are only a few times where it might be a few numbers off. If you happen to share a first name middle name last name month of birth and year of birth, then the last 3 numbers will be off by 1. Besides that, this works really well.

This is great for catching fake ID's. None of the fake ID's bother to calculate the right number. Most bouncers who police doors are familiar enough with the codes to flag fakes quite easily.

A Better Idea

[sycomonkey]

I would much rather have my cell phone be my:
RFID Entry key (With an actual battery it can be truly secure)
Debit/Credit Card (Same deal, different implementation)
Driver's Liscence/ID
Etc. Etc. Etc...

I should have to type in a PIN or something to spend money. You can already deactivate phone immediately if they are lost or stolen, so that's not really an issue. I'm sure this is the way things are headed.