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Your wallet or purse was once an essential item that you couldn't leave the house without.

But now in the age of contactless payments, digital receipts and NFC chips, they are quickly becoming obsolete.

And it seems their final death knell has been rung because soon you will be able to use your smartphone to display your driver's license.

Iowa will allow residents to display their driver's license on their phone beginning next year, using a free app (shown left). It could be used at traffic stops and security checkpoints at airports. It follows contactless payments (right) and NFC chips in making wallets obsolete

The free app, under development by the Iowa Department of Transportation, will allow users to show the digital license to law enforcement officers and at security checkpoints at airports.

For now it is only being rolled out in Iowa, but there are plans to roll it out to the rest of the US - and it has the potential to be rolled out other countries as well.

The app will be trialled by state employees over the next six months before it is opened up to the public - which means it will be available by June 2015 at the earliest.

'We are really moving forward on this,' said Paul Trombino, director of the state Department of Transportation, reported the Des Moines Register.

'The way things are going, we may be the first in the nation.'

Users of the app will use a pin for verification, and the app will then display all of the details that would be seen on a regular license.

This includes the user's name, age, height and address, in addition to the type of vehicle they are allowed to drive.

Residents will still be able to use a regular, card driver's license. But for those who use the digital version, Mr Trombino said it 'is basically your license on your phone.' 

Residents will still be able to use a regular, card driver's license. But for those who use the digital version, Paul Trombino, director of the Iowa state Department of Transportation said it 'is basically your license on your phone.' And it could be the final death knell for the humble wallet (stock image shown)

The app will be able to send push notifications about traffic, or remind a user if their license is about to expire, reported the Washington Post. 

And the picture on the app will also rotate side to side, according to Gigaom, giving a more complete look of the driver.

Fingerprint identification will also eventually be used, and possibly facial recognition as well, to add an added layer of security. 

Iowa is also one of more than 30 states that allow drivers to show their proof of insurance via an electronic device - yet another example of how smartphones are taking over our everyday lives.