A familiar situation for many.
The queue is long at the nightclub, and you are standing there with your group of friends. As you reach the guard, you realize that you have forgotten a valid “leg” at home.
The Swedish Road Administration’s driving license app is not a valid ID. Nor is it your bank card, which no longer has your name, photo and date of birth on the back.
You are kicked out of the queue and have to go home. But all this could have been avoided if you had a valid, digital ID card on your mobile.
Now there is. But does it work out in the city?
Maybe soon.
The students at Nord University in Bodø quickly downloaded the app and registered their digital ID. They think it can be a good solution.
Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / NRK
Millions have the app
Well over 180,000 people in Norway have activated the new ID card function of Bank ID since it was introduced in March, recent figures from the operator show.
The digital “leg” can so far only be used at Posten and Vinmonopolet.
But what about the outdoor areas?
The students Thea, Veronica and Karoline at Nord University all agree that electronic ID can be a good solution.
Students Thea, Veronica and Karoline at Nord University think it is a very good idea to have electronic identification.
Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / NRK
– I think it’s good. It’s easy to forget your phone when you’re going out on the town, so you usually have your mobile phone with you. I think people will find it positive, says Veronica Baltzersen.
– Have you forgotten to play before?
– No, actually never, but I have seen friends forget to play. There may be a bit of a crisis here and there, says Karoline Rosenlund.
But they think it is best if it is an alternative to regular identification, and not a replacement.
– It is important that you can still use ordinary ID such as a driver’s license and national ID card, but this is fine as an addition to what already exists, says Rosenlund.
The guards skeptical
Danny Jalink runs the security company Heimdall Guard Service in Bodø. He has experienced most of it in the “people under 20 trying to get in” category.
– There are people every week who try their hand. Sometimes it’s fake play, other times it’s just someone trying to see if we can do the math in our heads.
Danny Jalink, general manager of Heimdall, says that a new solution for digital ID can be put in place quickly.
Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / NRK
He does not know much about the new grant, but says it seems interesting.
– It can be an additional tool for identifying people, but how secure is it? Is it possible to fake? Can a «wiz kid» create an app that looks like, do we have to walk around with a QR scanner? There are many questions I am left with, but it could be interesting.
– Do you want to go with a scanner or an app yourself, outside the nightspots?
– Do security guards have to have a phone in their hand all the time? I’m not a big fan of it. But if you can just use the app itself to show your age, then it’s fine. It has a moving part, so it makes it easier to see that it is not a screenshot, he says.
Jalink says that it is impossible to say when the pubs will have the opportunity to accept the new form of ID, but that it can happen quickly.
– It could literally be this weekend. If someone says it’s okay, then okay. It could also be another three months. It all depends on what kind of signals we get from the authorities.
Will you be using an electronic ID in the city?
Yes!
No!
Do not know.
Show result
Arild Vaag Prestøy (left) and Danny Jalink talk together in the center of Bodø. They run the Heimdall Guard Service and are security guards outside several nightclubs in Bodø.
Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / NRK
– Does not require approval
NRK has been in contact with Bank ID’s communications manager Hege Steinsland.
She says that surveys show that especially young people want to play on their mobile phones.
They also want it if they are going on festival, at the pharmacy and in grocery stores and kiosks.
– 85 per cent of the young people we have asked say “yes, please”. Industries where customers have to authenticate themselves frequently will have more satisfied customers, shorter queues and fewer rejections.
The three students at Nord University say that they have never forgotten ID when going out on the town, but they know of others where this has been a problem.
Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / NRK
Figures from Vinmonopolet show that they checked the age of 4.4 million customers in 2023. Of these, over 16,000 were rejected.
Both Vinmonopolet and Bank ID believe this will be a revelation, especially for young people.
And it can be introduced in the nightspots tomorrow, according to them, if they want it. The company is currently in concrete talks with large, national players.
Hege Steinsland, communications manager at BankID BankAxept, believes that the electronic ID can also benefit the business world.
Photo: Sverre Chr. Jarild / BankID BankAxept
– We of course hope that these players will be in place with the service, so that people can use the digital ID card everywhere. We also believe there are other relevant areas of use, such as exams, selection, click and collect and so on
The only thing the nightclubs need is to buy access to an app that can verify the age, photo and name of the person in question.
– For example, do the police need to give permission for this?
– No, they don’t need any approval from the police, just an agreement on using the service with BankID BankAxept, she says and continues:
– We hope the nightlife industry embraces digital identification in the BankID app very quickly, both to make it easier and faster to check a doctor, and to meet the requirements for good age control. We see that young people are looking forward to using digital ID cards everywhere so they don’t have to walk around with a passport/national ID card or driver’s license in the city.
