The EU Digital Identity Wallet is set to reshape how businesses handle identity verification, authentication, and data exchange.
While the potential is vast, its real-world impact will depend on adoption, regulation, and business use cases.
In our recent conversation with Esther Makaay, VP of Digital Identity at Signicat, she shared insights on how the EUDI Wallet will affect industries such as payments, travel, and organizational identity.
Here’s what you need to know:
Payments: Fraud Reduction vs. Liability Concerns
Early pilots show that integrating identity verification directly into payment processes can dramatically reduce fraud by as much as 90 to 95%.
However, questions around liability are still unresolved.
If an identity credential turns out to be incorrect or is later compromised, it’s still unclear who bears the responsibility.
Travel: Improving Data Accuracy and Security
One of the key challenges in the travel sector is integrating new identity technologies with government-run border control systems, which are operated as closed ecosystems. This makes interoperability complex and slow-moving.
A major goal is minimizing errors during identity data entry. Small mistakes, like typos in a manually entered passport number, can be enough to prevent a traveler from boarding.
By enabling more accurate and secure data sharing, digital identity wallets can help reduce these risks, especially when dealing with self-asserted information.
Encouragingly, there are real-world signs of progress.
A recent pilot demonstrated the first successful ferry ticket purchase and boarding using an EU Digital Identity Wallet, on a route from Greece to Romania. This marks a meaningful step toward smoother, more secure cross-border travel.
Organizational Identity: A Bigger Opportunity Than Payments?
While much attention is given to digital identity in payments, the opportunity for organizational identity may be even greater, especially in areas like secure data sharing and verifying businesses. B2B use cases are emerging as a powerful driver of adoption.
However, defining and managing organizational identity remains a major hurdle.
Governments struggle with standardization, particularly in the EU, where legal entity structures differ significantly from one member state to another. This lack of uniformity complicates efforts to create interoperable systems.
To address these challenges, several industry pilots are underway.
These tests explore how verified business identities can improve supply chain security and operational efficiency, potentially unlocking massive value for both public and private sectors.
Governmental Use Cases: The Primary Adoption Driver
Governments are expected to be the primary force driving adoption of digital identity systems.
By issuing digital identity wallets and providing the core identity data they contain, public institutions lay the foundation for a trusted ecosystem.
The most prominent governmental use cases include integrating Personal Identity Data (PID), supporting mobile driving licenses (mDLs), and enabling seamless access to e-government services.
These foundational services not only serve citizens directly but also create the infrastructure that private sector use cases can build upon.
What’s the Timeline?
Here’s what to expect in the rollout of EUDI Wallets:
- November 2024 - May 2025: The European Commission published Implementing Acts in three batches, detailing standards, technical specifications, and certification processes.
- December 2026: EU Member States must provide at least one EUDI Wallet for citizens to use.
- December 2027: Regulated industries must accept EUDI Wallets as an authentication method.
Even though we’re still more than a year away from the EUDI Wallet rollout, businesses should start preparing now.
Understanding its implications early will help organizations stay ahead of compliance requirements and unlock new opportunities in identity verification.
