Calling card

One of Bill de Blasio biggest successes as mayor is his smallest, the IDNYC cards that 1.4 million New Yorkers have in their pockets, providing a secure, free identification document, especially for people who lack others. Since the program started five years ago, 1,446,773 such cards have been issued. That’s one in five New Yorkers ages 10 and up who have a way to show who they are and perhaps were unable to obtain state-issued ID from the DMV, either for drivers or nondrivers.

There are also prescription drug benefits, discounts on groceries and universal borrowing privileges at the city’s three public library systems. As a bonus, cardholders have signed up for 680,723 free year-long memberships at major cultural institutions.

While several banks and credit unions accept the card to open accounts, it’s shameful that the big banks like hometown Citi and Chase don’t recognize the card, as they should.

Fears of fraud and misuse never materialized. The city flagged 235 applications as suspect. That’s only 0.02%.

The next fight is whether to include smart chips in next-gen cards, enabling unbanked New Yorkers to pay for things. Knowing what we know now, we vote no; it would add security risks and muck up a simple idea with financial fees.

The opening day of IDNYC applications, Jan. 12, 2015, was a mess. City Hall got it under control. Those first cards expire next month and today, Dec. 2, renewals begin. They can be processed entirely online. Excellent.