Digital ID Has Changed. Do Disabled Customers Still Need an Access Card?

There's been an important change to digital identification this week.

From 15 September, pubs, bars, restaurants, shops, music venues and festivals in England and Wales can accept certified digital proof of age when somebody buys alcohol.

At almost exactly the same time, Future Ticketing has announced a new integration with Nimbus Disability which allows venues to validate Access Cards and Digital Access Passes directly within the ticket-buying journey.

Put the two announcements together and there's an obvious question: if we're moving towards digital ID, do disabled customers still need an Access Card?

The short answer is yes, where a venue uses the Access Card scheme. But the reason matters, and getting the distinction right has real legal consequences.

Why has proof of age changed?

Until this week, alcohol licensing rules effectively required acceptable proof of age to be a physical document. The document had to contain a photograph, date of birth and a physical security feature such as a hologram or ultraviolet marking.

That worked for passports, driving licences and PASS cards. It didn't work for a digital credential on somebody's phone.

The Government concluded that the law had fallen behind the technology. In its consultation, 72% of respondents supported allowing digital identities as proof of age, and 82% supported requiring digital identity providers used for alcohol sales to meet government-approved certification standards.

So the law has changed. A certified digital verification service can now tell the retailer, in effect: “This person is over 18 and the credential belongs to them.”

The bartender doesn't necessarily need to see the customer's home address. They don't necessarily need their full date of birth. They need the answer to a specific question: are they old enough to buy alcohol?

That's a useful principle. And it has a direct parallel in the Access Card debate.