10 things businesses need to know about the EU Digital Identity Wallet
The EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) is set to transform how businesses verify identities of EU residents and other businesses. Whether you’re in financial services, insurance, education or any other industry—here's what you need to know.
1. It’s coming by December 2026
All EU Member States must provide their residents a national digital identity and at least one EUDI Wallet app by December 2026. This means there will be 30+ national EUDI Wallets built to common specifications in the EU. This is mandated by EU law under the revised eIDAS regulation—commonly referred to as eIDAS 2.0.
2. Every EU resident is entitled to their national EUDI Wallet for free
All EU residents will be entitled to free access to their country’s version of the EUDI Wallet, along with a national eID provided through this wallet. It will be a secure app that can be downloaded on their smartphone, similar to other digital wallets. Use of the wallet is optional—they can still use existing solutions. Business wallets will also be available for managing organisational identities.
–"The Commission will propose a secure European e-identity. One that we trust and that any citizen can use anywhere in Europe to do anything from paying your taxes to renting a bicycle. A technology where we can control ourselves what data and how data is used."
3. Regulated industries must accept it by 2027
By 2027, regulated sectors like public services, banking, financial services, telecommunications, energy, healthcare, transport, and education requiring Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) must accept the EUDI Wallet for authentication alongside their existing solutions, such as eIDs, biometric logins or other types of authentication. In reality, these businesses will need to accept any of the 30+ national EUDI Wallets so users can sign in with their wallet, access services, authorise payment transactions and much more. Non compliance can result in heavy penalties from the European Commission.
5. It will work across borders
The wallet aims to be fully interoperable across EU Member States. That means a Danish resident can use their Danish wallet to open a bank account in Germany or rent a car in Spain. For businesses, this Pan-EU acceptance of the wallet means faster, cheaper identity verification across borders.
6. It will have government-grade security
The EUDI Wallet will be certified to meet the highest level of security assurance equivalent to the current eIDAS Level of Assurance “High”. Organisations verifying users via the wallet will receive tamper-proof credentials issued by trusted bodies (like governments and banks). In plain terms: it can be trusted at the same level as today’s most secure government-issued eIDs.
7. It is built with data privacy and GDPR compliance at its core
Organisations can request only the data they need—like verifying if someone is over 18—without requesting their full ID (zero knowledge proofs) helping them be GDPR compliant more easily. Additionally, the wallet won’t track or profile users, upholding their privacy.
8. It is backed by the revised eIDAS regulation
The original eIDAS regulation (2014) enabled use of European eIDs – such as the Danish MitID or Swedish BankID – to access services in their countries.
The revised eIDAS regulation (2024) introduced the EUDI Wallet. It sets the rules and standards for how the wallet works – ensuring it is secure, consistent, and interoperable across the EU.
9. Users can add other information and documents to the wallet from trusted sources
Besides basic identity information, the wallet can store (verified) attributes and digital documents from different sources. For example, a user can add their professional certifications (verified by a licensing body), driver's license (verified by the government) and university degree (verified by the university) If a user needs to prove their professional qualification, driving license, or university degree, they can selectively share this verified information with service providers.
10. Organisations can also issue credentials to the wallet
Government agencies can add information such as a person’s residence permit, tax residency details, or real estate and vehicle ownership to a user’s wallet. Businesses can also add credentials like credit and mortgage information. This not only opens up several opportunities for businesses and the public sector to share information more seamlessly with citizens, but also helps unlock the true potential of wallets.
It’s a big deal for digital business
The EUDI Wallet is about frictionless, secure digital identity across Europe. For businesses, this means:
- Effortless verification of a user's identity and other credentials across borders for Onboarding/KYC/KYB.
- Frictionless logins and payment transactions.
- Secure electronic signatures (at QES level) for contract and agreement signing.
- And an opportunity for businesses to make digital documents and other information available in a user's wallet.
In addition, it allows for trustworthy sharing of digital information:
- Avoiding typos when manually entering information.
- Allowing fast and accurate information-sharing, removing the need for filling out online forms.
- Relying on verifiable and tamper-free information that can be linked to the data source.
- Reduced fraud.
The EUDI Wallet is more than just a wallet for digital IDs – it’s the foundation for a more secure, unified digital economy in Europe. If your business operates in the EU, now’s the time to prepare. Start reviewing your onboarding flows, authentication methods, and how you request user data.
Where Signicat can help
ID verification, authentication and signing via the EUDI Wallet
Signicat can help businesses verify a user's identity via the EU Digital Identity Wallet as a seamless extension to verifying with eIDs or ID documents. Whether it is Onboarding/KYC, authentication or electronic signing, if it can be done with an eID or ID document check today, it can also be done with the EUDI Wallet tomorrow.
Issuing verified credentials to the wallet
Signicat, a Qualified Trust Service Provider, helps businesses, government agencies, and wallet issuers issue verified credentials into any digital identity wallet including the EUDI Wallet. This capability has been demonstrated with the Norwegian government as part of the NOBID Large Scale Pilot.
Signicat is an organisation on the EU Trusted Service list, part of three EUDI Large Scale Pilots and has a track record of offering banking grade services meeting the strictest security and compliance requirements in Europe.