Digital identity you can trust. That is the promise. And with the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, we are closer than ever to delivering on that promise at scale.
But trust alone will not make the EUDI Wallet a success.
At present, the discussion around the EUDI Wallet is largely confined to a specific bubble: regulators, standards bodies, and identity experts. Within that bubble, enthusiasm is high. Outside of it, awareness is limited. Even more concerning, understanding of the true potential remains shallow.
If we want the EUDI Wallet to become more than a compliance checkbox for governmental interactions, we must fundamentally rethink how we position, implement, and communicate its value.
A Step Forward, But Not Automatically a Success
The EUDI Wallet represents a significant architectural shift. Issuer, holder, verifier. Verifiable credentials. User-centric control within a regulated, federated trust framework. Privacy by design. Compared to legacy centralized identity schemes operated by governments, big tech platforms, or enterprises, this is clearly a step forward.
It empowers individuals and organizations to hold credentials and selectively disclose them. It reduces dependency on dominant intermediaries. It improves privacy in most real-world scenarios.
But technology alone does not drive adoption.
There are three fundamentally different adoption scenarios emerging:
- Use cases where the wallet is the only digital option
- Use cases where organizations are obliged to support it, but alternatives remain
- Use cases where no obligation exists at all
In the first category, such as certain governmental services, usage may be ensured. But these interactions are infrequent. Most citizens interact with government services only a few times per year. That is not sufficient to create habitual usage.
In the second category, financial services, utilities, and other regulated industries as well as selected large digital platforms must support the wallet for identification and authentication. But support does not equal preference. Organizations will decide based on cost, customer acceptance, and competitive risk.
In the third category, other digital platforms and private sector services will only promote the wallet if it delivers tangible business value beyond what existing mechanisms such as passkeys already provide.
Obligation creates availability. It does not create enthusiasm.
The Real Value Is Not Identity. It Is Process Optimization
The current narrative focuses heavily on identification, authentication, and electronic signatures. These are important foundations. But they are not the real game changers.
The true economic potential lies in injecting verifiable credentials deep into business processes.
Consider complex processes such as loan applications, AML and KYC procedures, or Know Your Business requirements. Today, these processes are expensive, manual, fragmented, and intermediary driven.
Imagine a scenario where:
- Income statements, employment status, property ownership, business registration data, and compliance proofs are available as standardized verifiable credentials
- These credentials are automatically validated and processed within digital workflows
- Entire approval processes are significantly automated
The result is not incremental improvement. It is structural cost reduction.
Banks could save substantial operational expenditure. Intermediaries in property transactions could be reduced. Contracting processes could become largely automated. Business onboarding could move from days to minutes.
That is where the wallet becomes strategically relevant.
Not as a digital ID card replacement.
But as a business process accelerator.
Communication Is the Missing Link
One of the biggest risks for the EUDI Wallet is not technical failure. It is insufficient communication.
There is too little emphasis on demonstrating real business value. Too little visibility of compelling enterprise use cases. Too little explanation of why this model is superior to centralized schemes in practical terms.
If the narrative remains confined to compliance and governmental interactions, adoption will remain shallow and limited to select use cases.
Organizations that are merely obliged to support the wallet may do so reluctantly. Those not obliged may ignore it altogether.
This would be a massive missed opportunity.
What Enterprises Should Do Now
The implementation timeline is clear. Wallets will become available soon, and the obligation period ends in 2027. The clock is ticking.
Enterprises should not wait.
They must:
- Understand both the potential and the limitations of the EUDI Wallet
- Analyze where existing identification, onboarding, and verification processes create unnecessary cost
- Identify where verifiable credentials can streamline or automate workflows
- Engage business process owners, not only IT departments
This is no longer an identity management project. It is a business transformation initiative.
The organizations that approach the EUDI Wallet purely as a compliance requirement will achieve compliance.
The organizations that approach it as infrastructure for digital process reinvention will achieve competitive advantage.
Thinking Beyond the Smartphone
There is another important dimension. If we reduce the concept to a single wallet on a single smartphone, we risk underestimating its long-term evolution.
Digital reality is multi device. Professional contexts are not always mobile first. Complex transactions such as real estate purchases are not conducted on a phone screen.
The wallet ecosystem must evolve accordingly. Roaming credentials, multi device strategies, and enterprise grade usage models will be essential for sustained adoption.
The Bottom Line
The EUDI Wallet is a powerful piece of digital infrastructure. It is better than most identity schemes currently operating at scale. It creates a foundation for trust.
But trust alone does not guarantee usage.
Success will depend on whether we:
- Communicate its broader economic value
- Demonstrate real world business process optimization
- Encourage enterprises to innovate beyond compliance
- Educate stakeholders outside the identity bubble
We need to think broader.
The EUDI Wallet must not become a rarely used digital ID card stored somewhere on a phone and forgotten between tax declarations.
It must become an enabler of efficient, automated, privacy preserving digital business processes across Europe.
If we achieve that, it will not only be a regulatory success.
It will be a strategic one.
Some references:
- The revised eIDAS Regulation: Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 amending eIDAS
- The EU Digital Identity Framework: European Digital Identity Framework – European Commission
The place where the differentiated, beyond-the-bubble discussions around the EUDI wallet will take place is, as every year, the European Identity Conference 2026 in Berlin, May 19th to 22nd, hosted by KuppingerCole Analysts.
