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The EU Digital Identity Wallet: A complete guide for businesses

As the European Union moves toward full implementation of the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet), businesses across sectors must prepare for a digital transformation in how identities are verified, customers are onboarded, and e-signatures are done.

This guide explains what the EUDI Wallet means for businesses, which obligations are emerging, and how organisations can prepare their onboarding, KYC/KYB, authentication, and signing flows for wallet-based interactions.

Illustration of a smartphone displaying an EUDI Wallet app containing digital credentials and services including a national eID, university diploma, driving license, payment, insurance, and travel documents.

What is the EU Digital Identity Wallet?

The EU Digital Identity Wallet is a government-backed digital wallet (mobile app) that lets EU residents store and share pre-verified personal details—like national IDs, diplomas, and driver’s licenses—to access services across the EU. Organisations can also get business wallets to prove company identity in B2B settings.

It is an initiative from the European Commission in collaboration with EU Member States.

Here are ten fundamental things every business should know.

Illustration of two hands fitting together puzzle pieces, symbolising collaboration, integration, or connecting digital identity solutions.

Current outlook

The EUDI wallets will start rolling out at the end of 2026. From late 2027, acceptance obligations will apply to certain public and private-sector relying parties in defined use cases, including services where strong user authentication or legally required user identification is required. 

For regulated industries such as banks, financial services, payments, and public services, this makes compliance readiness a priority. Businesses should assess where wallet-based identity verification, authentication, KYC/KYB, and signing may affect their existing customer journeys. 

Illustration of a person holding a padlock in front of a smartphone displaying a login screen with a password field and fingerprint icon.

What can users do with the EU Digital Identity Wallet?

The EUDI Wallet allows users to:

1. Login to services securely 

2. Prove personal attributes (e.g., age, nationality) without disclosing their full ID

3. Sign documents electronically at a highest level of assurance (QES level)

4. Support payment-related use cases such as strong authentication, mandate signing, and verified attribute sharing

Illustration of the European Union digital identity framework showing trusted identity verification, privacy controls, and secure access to digital services.

Business use cases for the EUDI Wallet

    • Instant account opening: A user verifies their identity, shares verified credentials like proof of address and income, and signs digitally to open an account- all via the EUDI wallet and in minutes.
    • Cross-border lending: A German user applies for a loan in Spain. The bank accesses verified identity and creditworthiness data from the wallet, complying with local KYC laws while reducing fraud risk.
    • Secure e-mandates for SEPA: Use the wallet to issue and sign e-mandates for direct debit authorisation.
    • KYC efficiency: Reusable verified credentials can help reduce repeated document collection, manual review, and re-verification across the customer lifecycle.
    • Trusted checkout for BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later): User shares verified identity and credit history from wallet; payment provider assesses eligibility in real-time.
    • Merchant onboarding: PSPs can instantly verify legal representatives and UBOs of a business via EUDI Wallet credentials.
    • Strong Customer Authentication (SCA): Step-up authentication during high-value transactions using the EUDI Wallet 
    • Car rental without counter check-in: User verifies driver’s license and ID in advance through the wallet. Car keys are issued digitally after biometric authentication.
    • Shared mobility access: E-scooter or car-sharing apps verify age and identity through wallet before unlocking vehicles.
    • Cross-border transport passes: A commuter from Austria uses a German mobility service by sharing residency and student credentials to get discounted rates.
    • Instant player onboarding: Verify age and identity of players before allowing access to gambling platforms, satisfying regulatory requirements without lengthy manual checks.
    • Cross-border regulatory compliance: Platforms operating across multiple EU countries can onboard players with a harmonised identity framework, reducing legal complexity.
    • Digital policy issuance: Verify identities of policy seekers using the wallet. Customers can sign insurance contracts using Qualified Electronic Signatures from the wallet.
    • Verified health and driving credentials: During quote generation or claims, the user can share verified documents like medical records or driving history.
    • B2B onboarding: Verify company representatives and legal entities instantly for commercial insurance.

Benefits of the EU Digital Identity Wallet for businesses

  • Government-grade assurance

  • Frictionless interactions

  • Tamper-proof credentials

  • Qualified Electronic Signatures

  • Privacy and GDPR at its core

  • Cross border interoperability

For businesses, this means

  • Easier cross-border operations

  • Reduced fraud

  • Easier compliance to KYC/AML regulations

How to prepare your business for EUDI Wallet implementation

1. Issue 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. Verified credentials can be proof of income, insurance policy number or any other information held by a user. This capability has been recently demonstrated with the Norwegian government as part of the NOBID Large Scale Pilot.

2. Accept wallet-based identity verification and KYC/KYB

Verify a user's identity and other attributes (such as age and address) via the EUDI Wallet as a seamless extension to verifying with eIDs or ID documents. From simple registrations to complex KYC, supporting both current and future methods ensures a smooth transition to a wallet-based future.

3. Enable wallet-based login and authentication

Adding an additional "Login via the EUDI wallet" option to your services provides both a secure (Strong Customer Authentication) and frictionless means of authentication. Plus, it helps regulated industries comply with regulations requiring mandatory acceptance of the wallet for authentication.

4. Add wallet-based electronic signing

Adding the EUDI wallet in addition to eIDs and other current digital signing methods enables paperless signing of contracts and agreements. Wallet-supported signing can help reduce manual handling, shorten agreement completion times, and support legally valid electronic signatures across the EU, including Qualified Electronic Signatures where the required qualified trust services are used. 

Illustration of a person handing a document to another person through a computer screen.

Why choose Signicat for EUDI Wallet readiness

Signicat is a Qualified Trust Service provider, an organisation on the EU Trusted Service list, part of three EUDI Large Scale Pilots, plays an active role in shaping European standards and has a track record of offering banking grade services meeting the strictest security and compliance requirements in Europe.

As the leading digital identity solutions provider in Europe, Signicat is integrating wallet-based solutions to its current portfolio of solutions. This not only makes current solutions future proof but also enables a gradual and seamless transition to wallet-based solutions. 

EUDI Wallet FAQ for businesses

  • No. The EUDI Wallet is not mandatory for every business by 2027. However, certain public and private-sector relying parties will need to prepare for wallet acceptance in defined use cases, especially where strong user authentication or legally required user identification is part of the service. 

  • Existing national eIDs are usually tied to one country’s identity infrastructure. The EUDI Wallet is designed to support cross-border identity, attribute sharing, authentication, and signing through a common EU framework. 

  • Yes, but it does not need to replace them. The EUDI Wallet can act as an additional trusted source of identity and attribute data alongside existing eIDs, ID document verification, registry checks, and risk-based KYC/AML processes. 

  • It can reduce cost in selected workflows by limiting repeated document uploads, manual review, and re-verification. The impact depends on the use case, risk model, regulatory requirements, and level of wallet adoption among customers. 

  • Yes. The wallet can support electronic signing journeys. For Qualified Electronic Signatures, the signing flow must use the required qualified trust services and meet eIDAS requirements.