Identity document
Other forms of officially accepted identification include the driver's license and the birth certificate. However, these are accepted only in limited circumstances and cannot take the place of the ID Card in most cases. The ID Card is mandatory for dealing with government institutions, banks or currency exchange shops. A valid passport may also be accepted, but usually only for foreigners.
Identity Cards Act 2006
Only workers in certain high-security professions, such as airport workers, were required to have an identity card in 2009, and this general lack of compulsory ID remains the case today. Therefore, driving licences, particularly the photocard driving licence introduced in 1998, along with passports, are now the most widely used ID documents in the United Kingdom. Nobody in the UK is required to carry any form of ID. In everyday situations most authorities, such as the police, do not make spot checks of identification for individuals, although they may do so in instances of arrest. Some banks will accept a provisional driving licence only from young people, the upper age limit for which varies from bank to bank, while others will accept it from all ages.