The contract includes 900,000 driving licenses over a period of 3 years.  This new card also acts as a reliable ID document and opens up the potential for additional e-schemes like healthcare for the benefits of all citizens.

The solution includes the Gemalto smart card platform that will securely store the driver’s information, and a sophisticated card body with specific security features that makes it difficult to copy and counterfeit. Prime contractor Cosmocolor handles the enrolment process and provides on-site personalization of the solution.

The driving license is a chip-based ID document that entitles a specific person to drive a certain category of vehicle. The microprocessor securely stores a high-resolution picture of the holder, his/her blood type, and the drivers’ credentials to enable digital signature.  The chip also contains the history of drivers’ fines, allowing the transit authorities to easily monitor drivers’ behavior on the roads and could, in the future, be used for insurance companies to calculate policy costs. Fingerprint and facial picture of the driver are encoded in the card body.

In the street the policemen will be holding a handheld terminal. This new terminal can read the microprocessor of the driving license, showing on screen the digitalized picture stored in the chip. The policeman then can see whether it matches the picture encoded in the card body of the driving license. The terminal also encodes a list of most frequent driving penalties and enables the policeman to write into the chip the corresponding code each time the driver breaks the law, as well as other details such as the date and place.

“Thanks to this new scheme, we are now sure to have the fines and sanctions apply to the driver and not the vehicle” explains Jorge Domene, director of the Instituto de Control Vehicular. “The other major benefit of this smart card-based program lies in the information sharing capability since the chip allows for collecting and sharing information about the driver with other public Mexican institutions. We now can compare the fingerprint and photos with the Justice Department for example, making the driving license an efficient tool for public security”.

Eric Claudel, vice president Latin America for Gemalto, comments: “The Instituto de Control Vehicular chose to adopt a smart card-based solution combining the latest biometrics identification techniques with the most advanced security features. As a result, the Nuevo Leon state now enjoys a fast, secure and user-friendly scheme for driver registration, which should reduce fraud and administration costs. As this new card also acts as the national ID document, it might as well be upgraded with additional e-services like healthcare.”