ATHENS – Already able to have COVID-19 vaccination certificates on their smartphones, Greeks will soon be able to put their national identification cards and driving licenses on them too for convenience.

With smartphone holders now having slots for cards and money, the need for wallets to carry bulky paper copies could further give way to people using only phones, if society turns toward digital currency instead of paper and coins.

The electronic ID cars and drivers licenses  will be available in a wallet-style application for smartphones by the end of July, Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said.

“We already piloted the ID card last Christmas in relation to Covid, so that users could have (proof of identity) together with their digital vaccination certificate. Now the ID will take on a more regular form and people will be able to circulate around the country with their ID and driving license on their phone,” Pierrakakis told SKAI TV of the coming changes.

The ministry is moving toward taking Greece into the 21^st Century and moving away from a bureaucracy notorious for piles of paperwork, and he said that there will be a new citizen’s registration number that will replace the AMKA social security number and AFM tax ID. This new number will be featured on the new digital identification cards and will be used for downloading certificates from the gov.gr website, and the new ID will have a QR code used for transactions with the state.

As for delays in launching a digital signature, Pierrakakis said that his ministry is in talks with the Banking Association to find answers as the technological advance is continuing and changing society dramatically.