Passport-free travel is ready, expert says, legislation is the holdup | Biometric Update

Travelers are beginning to express a preference for biometric options for air travel, as speed and convenience continue to be top priorities. Unsurprisingly, younger people want their travel experience to be digital, even as they look for assurances on privacy and security. Not all travel journeys are the same, and regional preferences on digital travel credentials (DTC) are emerging.

These findings from the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) newly released 2024 Global Passenger Survey point to an ever-more evident truth: biometric and digital ID technology is transforming air travel. In the words of Alan Goode in a recent commentary for Biometric Update, “from remote selfie-based identity verification on your smartphone, to self-bag drop, accessing VIP lounges, getting through security, concession-shopping, and boarding your plane, train or cruise ship, biometrics is enabling the seamless travel experience.”

Young people prefer digital wallets for convenience, efficiency

“Passengers want flexibility and transparency when planning and booking travel, plus speed and convenience at the airport,” says IATA Senior Vice President of Operations, Safety, and Security, Nick Careen, in a release. “More are embracing biometrics, digital wallets, and off-airport processes to make it happen.”

Among people under 25, 51 percent express a preference for digital wallets as a method of payment, and 90 percent expressed interest in using a smartphone with a digital wallet, passport, and loyalty cards for booking, payment, and airport navigation. These numbers far surpass global averages. And they are likely to continue rising, as the boomer generation ages out and digital natives become the majority.

“Travelers expect the same conveniences when shopping for travel that they get in any other online shopping experience,” says IATA’s Muhammad Albakri, senior vice president for financial settlement and distribution services. “The industry is stepping up to meet the demand for greater customer centricity through IATA’s Modern Airline Retailing initiative. Passengers will experience its positive impact progressively in the very near future.”

Among those same under-25s, 48 percent prefer biometrics over traditional passports and boarding passes. More would be interested if assurances about data security were more transparent. Experience may also have something to do with it: of the 46 percent of travelers who went through airport processes using biometric identification, 84 percent were satisfied and 75 percent say they prefer using biometrics over traditional passports and boarding passes.

Europeans most likely to be unsatisfied by biometrics

Regionally, Asia-Pacific leads in using mobile apps and digital wallets to book and pay for travel and in their likelihood of using biometric technology at airports. African nations show strong interest in digitizing travel but often face limited options. North American travelers “actively use biometric identification for airport processes and report high satisfaction with it.” And Europeans are the most cautious about using biometrics, and the least satisfied.

Specific nations are also charting their own paths on digital travel credentials. Australia recently announced that ​​it is replacing its Incoming Passenger Card (IPC) with the Australia Travel Declaration (ATD), allowing travelers to share their data with airport security through a QR code on their smartphone. Pilots have begun on select Qantas Airways flights from Auckland to Brisbane, and expansion is expected in the coming weeks.

Nigeria is enthusiastic on digital identity for travel, and recently announced its intention to adopt DTCs, to streamline the air travel experience and reduce bureaucratic delays. As many as 40 e-verification gates across multiple airports are presumed to be operating across the country, based on reports from early in 2024.

Cautious though they may be, the EU is also forging ahead on DTCs, planning a new EU Digital Travel app and a common framework for DTC use. The hope is that digital credentials could ease some of the headaches caused by the EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES).

74% say digital wallets essential for travel: PYMNTS survey

Survey results from PYMNTS go even further on the uptake of digital wallets for travel. Almost three quarters (74 percent) of travelers tell the company digital wallets are “essential” for travel, and it isn’t just the young: wealthy travelers show a strong (82 percent) preference for transactions using digital wallets.

The entry of big, familiar names into the digital wallet space has normalized them to a degree, and international standards bodies that can support the travel industry in aligning on digital ID and digital credentials also help the cause.

Coverage in Phocuswire quotes Darrell O’Donnell, executive director of the Global Acceptance Network (GAN), who believes digital wallets will be most useful once the sector integrates different travel systems. “It would make my life a lot easier if I could just say, ‘Hi, I’m checking in, here’s my reward number,’ and have everything seamlessly connected,” he says.

That kind of standardized, frictionless experience is the dream – but there are still verification requirements on both the KYC and KYB sides of the equation.

GAN plans to offer a “reliable exchange to verify user identity and the user to verify the vendor, bringing together multiple ecosystems in travel, including airlines, hotels, tour operators and loyalty programs, while ensuring privacy and security of data exchange.” It speaks of a “new digital layer to become a ‘DNS for Trust,’” similar to the Domain Name System (DNS) for the web.

EUDI Wallet program will be a driver of interoperability

The EU’s digital wallet program (EUDI Wallet) and its current large-scale pilot programs will likely spur progress in digital credentials and interconnectivity, as its nationally-run wallet schemes in member states are required to be interoperable in the European Economic Area.  The pilots are testing travel use cases like hotel check-ins, ferry tickets, and boarding flights.

Per Annet Steenbergen, advisor to the EU’s Digital Wallet Consortium, “We are coming to a point where you will be able to check into your hotel from your couch, share your check-in credentials digitally and have your room key pushed to your wallet before you arrive. But we are still a ways away from being able to travel without a physical passport.”

Blockchain and digital identity path unclear

Some see blockchain as the prime enabler of reusable digital credentials for easier travel. But there is no consensus on its role. For Steenbergen, secure identity based on the blockchain is something of a contradiction. “Blockchain writes something in stone, and that contradicts privacy, particularly the right to be forgotten.” She doubts it will make its way into the EUDI Wallet ecosystem.

How soon can we expect to travel without a passport?

The biggest question in travel is when the industry can do away with physical documents altogether. The tools are available now. But legislation moves much more slowly than innovation. “Technically, we can do all of this,” says Steenbergen. “The problem is that current legislation often still says a travel document must be physically checked.”

Alan Goode puts the introduction of DTC Type 3, which are digital credentials issued without the need to be linked to an electronic Machine Readable Travel Document (eMRTD), at between five and ten years. His consulting firm also says the market for government and commercial issued digital travel identities will generate more than $4.6 billion in revenue by 2029. Meanwhile, IATA, which recently published the results from two proofs-of-concept on its One ID DTCs and digital wallet scheme, claims “a seamless fully digital travel experience powered by digital identity and biometrics has moved from theory to proven reality.”

The engines are firing and the runway is cleared. Traveling without papers may fly sooner than we think.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital travel credentials  |  digital wallets  |  face biometrics  |  Goode Intelligence  |  International Air Transport Association  |  interoperability  |  travel and tourism