North Carolina DMV Adds 10 Self-Service Kiosks Across Cumberland, Wake Counties

North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles unveiled 10 new self-service kiosks Monday at grocery stores throughout Raleigh, Apex, Wake Forest, and Fayetteville. This brings the state's count to 20 machines spread throughout three counties.

Commissioner Paul Tine stopped by the new kiosk at Carlie C's on New Bern Avenue Monday morning. "Transactions take just 2 to 3 minutes, and you're ready to go," Tine said, according to the News & Observer. "You don't have to come into one of our offices, you can avoid all of that and come right here to Carlie C's and get it taken care of."

The machines let customers renew driver licenses and state IDs, order duplicates, change addresses, register to vote, renew vehicle registration, and pay property tax on new vehicles. They can also print temporary licenses, license plate stickers, and registration cards.

Wake County now has seven kiosk spots at Carlie C's, Publix, and Harris Teeter stores. Cumberland County has three spots, while Mecklenburg County has 10.

The agency first rolled out the program in 2024 at three Harris Teeter spots. Six more machines were installed the same year, increasing access in Raleigh and introducing kiosks in Cary and Fuquay-Varina. Officials had wanted to reach 20 kiosks by the end of 2024 but hit that target this month instead.

About 400,000 online transactions have replaced services that customers once had to do in person, according to Tine. The kiosks have handled 90,000 transactions since launch. Every two out of three renewals can now be done online.

"It's not a single thing that's going to fix us as far as wait times," he said. "Every little step we take, the more we move online, the more things we do in the office to create efficiency, it's going to continue to drive that down further and further."

The average wait time at offices is now under 40 minutes, Tine said Monday. The agency has brought on 64 employees in recent months to improve customer service.

"The more we can do to meet the customer where they are instead of making the customer come to us ... we're going to concentrate on that," Tine said, per WRAL.com.

Each transaction costs $4.95 plus a 2% card processing fee. Customers must still visit an office for REAL ID applications, first licenses, name changes or new title applications.