Brazilian driving licenses to adopt chip and pin card model

The Brazilian driving license will resemble a chip and pin plastic bank card by 2019, according to the country's authorities.

The main goal of the initiative is to reduce fraud as the current version of the document is paper-based and relatively easy to counterfeit.

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Another improvement expected from the introduction of the new license model - which has already been in place for decades in Europe and the US - is that driver records will be integrated with other countries.

Physical licenses will be progressively replaced with the new plastic version as they expire.

The makeover plans for the physical document follow the recent announcement of a digital driving license, also part of the plan to reduce fraud.

It is expected that all 27 Brazilian states will be able to offer the digital license as of February 2018. The government hopes that approximately 1,5 million drivers will be using the digital license by 2022.