Right now we carry a plastic ID card to get into the pool, the rec center or the golf course. Several states, including Colorado, Arizona, Georgia and Louisiana, already let residents add a version of their driver’s license to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet so they can show ID with a tap of the phone. Florida does not yet offer this for its driver’s licenses, but that has not stopped our phones from holding almost everything else we carry: boarding passes, hotel room keys, credit cards, gym memberships and event tickets. If banks and airlines trust a phone to verify who we are, it is fair to ask why our own community amenity card could not work the same way.
Some residents worry that a digital ID means less security or that it leaves out those who are not comfortable with technology. Those are real concerns, but the answer is simple: keep the physical card as an option, and add the phone as a second choice.
The technology itself is not complicated. The Villages could add resident ID cards directly into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, the same free apps already sitting on most residents’ phones for credit cards and boarding passes. Setup would look like adding any other card: scan a QR code once at a rec center or the Lifestyle & Preview Center, and the ID appears in the Wallet app, ready to show or tap at the gate from then on…