Anyone who has recently opened a bank account, rented an apartment in Berlin, or signed up for a new service in Lyon knows the drill: photograph your passport, upload a utility bill, re-enter the same details, then wait for verification. Cross a border—say, from the Netherlands to Belgium—and the process becomes even more tangled. This is not just a nuisance; it is a drag on the European economy, costing billions in abandoned transactions, duplicated checks, fraud, and the kind of friction the single market was supposed to eliminate.
By the end of 2026, under the European Digital Identity Regulation, every member state must make a digital identity wallet available to its citizens. The deadline is often framed as a compliance chore, but that undersells the stakes. The European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet is a genuine opportunity to reshape how Europeans prove who they are—and to unlock growth in a market that still moves at analogue speed in too many places.
From identification to verification
The real shift is not about putting a digital copy of your ID on a smartphone. It is about changing what you are asked to prove. Today, identity systems rely on identification: you reveal who you are, and the other party decides if you qualify. The Wallet enables verification: you prove only the specific fact that matters. A customer in Milan could show they are over 18 without disclosing their name, address, or date of birth. That gives citizens more control over their personal data while shrinking the amount of sensitive information circulating through the economy.
For two decades, digital services have been built on a false trade-off: more security meant more friction, more privacy meant less convenience. The Wallet can break that equation. A credential issued by a trusted authority can be verified instantly, in person or remotely, without manual review. Data disclosure can be limited to what the transaction actually requires, and simpler processes reduce the point at which customers give up. Less data shared, stronger assurance, faster transactions—three goals that used to compete can now move in the same direction.
The potential applications are broad: verified bank account and employment details, driving licences, diplomas, electronic signatures, or confirmation that someone is authorised to act for a company. For businesses, this means lower costs, faster onboarding, stronger authentication, and fewer abandoned journeys. In sensitive sectors like energy, transport, health, and defence supply chains, trusted professional credentials can simplify secure access. For the single market, the prize is larger still: portable credentials make it easier for citizens and firms to operate across member states, removing administrative barriers that still inhibit cross-border activity.
This is also where digital sovereignty becomes tangible. Anchoring these exchanges in European law, standards, and identity infrastructure gives Europe the chance to develop its own model of digital trust—one that combines interoperability with privacy, and innovation with democratic control. That model could have relevance beyond Europe, as governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America build their own digital identity systems. But its value lies not in the technology alone. Proportionality, user control, and data protection are fundamental to its success.
Availability is not adoption
None of this happens automatically. Launching a Wallet is a milestone, not the objective. Success depends on whether citizens actually use it and whether public authorities and businesses integrate it into the services people rely on. At IN Groupe, our work supporting Wallet and credential pilots for public and private issuers across several member states points to four conditions that will shape adoption.
The first is enrolment. Activating the Wallet and obtaining credentials must be simple, reliable, and accessible from day one. The second is inclusion. Citizens have different levels of digital confidence and access to technology. Support, alternative channels, and delegation mechanisms will be essential to ensure digitalisation does not create new barriers. The third is recourse. Information can be incorrect, credentials can fail, and devices can be lost. Clear mechanisms for correction and recovery are vital to maintaining trust.
The fourth is the ecosystem. Businesses may hesitate to invest without enough users, while citizens may see little reason to adopt a Wallet until it works with services they value. Governments can help break this deadlock by enabling high-value public use cases and working with private providers to create compelling everyday scenarios—from opening a bank account in Lisbon to renting a flat in Warsaw. The regulatory framework has created the opportunity; the technology is ready. What remains is the harder, more valuable work: building services that citizens choose to use. Europe has legislated trust. Now it must earn it—and the growth will follow.
