Understanding Florida Driver’s License Scanning Issues—Causes & Solutions

Certain Florida driver’s licenses issued since 2017 may fail to scan correctly due to a barcode printing defect. This issue affects approximately 1-1.5% of Florida IDs and can impact businesses that rely on automated ID verification, such as banks, hotels, and retail establishments.

Why Some Florida IDs Won’t Scan

The problem lies in the 2D barcode on the back of the ID. This barcode contains all the key information displayed on the front, allowing scanners to read and verify the ID instantly.

However, some Florida IDs have a printing issue that affects this barcode. The problem is most noticeable in the “start pattern”—the section at the beginning of the barcode that tells the scanner where to start reading. On some Florida IDs, this area appears blurry or smudged. Since the scanner can’t recognize the start pattern, it fails to read the barcode correctly.

This issue can cause a complete scan failure or result in incorrect data being pulled, making ID verification difficult for businesses that rely on automated scanning.

How Common Is This Problem?

Based on industry data, roughly 1-1.5% of Florida IDs have this issue. While that may not seem like a high number, consider a busy establishment scanning thousands of IDs a month—dozens of failed scans. Since Florida driver’s licenses are valid for eight years, this problem will continue to affect businesses until at least 2030.

Alternative Verification Methods

If a Florida driver’s license cannot be scanned due to a barcode defect, alternative verification methods can help ensure accurate identity verification without relying on the barcode.

• OCR (Optical Character Recognition) Processing – OCR technology extracts printed information directly from the front of the ID, bypassing barcode-related issues. This allows businesses to review and verify key details manually.
• AAMVA Driver’s License Verification (DLDV) Considerations—AAMVA verification can be used to confirm ID validity in some workflows. Businesses may explore integrating it as an additional layer of security when needed.

Conclusion

Barcode scanning is an efficient verification method because it is fast and accurate. However, producing ID documents can involve variables that occasionally result in defects, such as barcode printing issues. While these occurrences are rare, alternative verification methods are available when scanning fails.

Trust Stamp’s team of experts can help identify the most effective identity verification solutions, whether through document-based methods like OCR and AAMVA verification or biometric authentication, such as facial recognition. Our solutions ensure secure and accurate identity verification, even when barcode scanning is unreliable.

Contact us for assistance or additional information about this or other identity verification solutions.