The EUDI-wallet business models of the future

At this year’s eIDAS summit hosted by Bitkom in Berlin at the end of April, I was invited to a panel discussion focusing on future business opportunities connected to European Digital Identity (EUDI) wallets.

From my perspective, the panel made one thing very clear: the European Digital Identity Wallet can only succeed if it becomes part of a practical, interoperable ecosystem that creates real value for citizens, businesses, and governments alike. Technology alone is not enough. We need clear responsibilities, trust, and compelling use cases that people actually want to use.

As someone representing both a telecom provider and a qualified trust service provider, I see that Europe already has a major advantage: we possess a strong legal and technical framework for trusted digital identity. We have spent years building secure infrastructure across many countries and now we can build the next stage of digital services on this foundation.

A new era of onboarding

One of the strongest immediate opportunities is onboarding and identity verification in regulated sectors such as banking. In the past, customers often had to travel in person or complete cumbersome procedures just to open accounts or sign important documents. With trusted digital identity, these processes can happen remotely, securely, and efficiently. That is where value already exists today.

However, I believe the largest long-term business opportunity is not the wallet itself. The real value lies in the secure connection of verified data in the background. Organizations today often store identity records, attestations, and approvals in fragmented systems across departments. A functioning wallet ecosystem can connect these data sources and make trusted information instantly usable when needed. That creates efficiency, lowers friction, and enables entirely new digital services.

Trusted identity solutions must always solve three core problems:

Identification, which involves confirming who a person, company, or institution really is.
Authenticity, which involves proving that documents or credentials have not been altered.
Liability and trust, which involve ensuring legal certainty and accountability.

These fundamental pillars are already central to trust service providers, and they will remain essential in the wallet ecosystem.

A few challenges remain

I also raised an urgent concern: current identification methods such as video identification may soon face serious pressure from rapidly improving AI and deepfake technologies. Many companies still rely on these systems, but their long-term resilience is uncertain. If synthetic identities become easier to generate, many current onboarding models could quickly lose credibility. That is why Europe needs to move quickly toward stronger identity mechanisms linked to official credentials.

Another important point is user experience. Security matters, but people adopt solutions that are simple and intuitive. Citizens should not need to understand technical standards or regulation. They should simply be able to verify themselves quickly, access services easily, and feel confident that their data is protected.

I also argued that debates around privacy can sometimes become too theoretical. Of course, privacy must be built in and non-negotiable. But in practice, people regularly hand over passport copies to hotels, businesses, and online platforms with little transparency about where that data goes. A well-designed wallet based on selective disclosure can actually improve privacy by sharing only the data required for a transaction.

Looking ahead, I expect Europe will still experience fragmentation until around 2030. Different countries are progressing at different speeds and interpreting roles such as qualified trust service providers differently. So, there will not be one perfect universal wallet overnight. But that should not stop progress. It is better to begin with strong foundations, practical use cases, and gradual adoption than to wait for perfection.

In a nutshell

My overall conclusion is optimistic: Europe has the regulatory basis, technical expertise, and market need to succeed. If we focus on trust, usability, and real-world applications, the digital identity wallet can become far more than an app. It will become the secure backbone of Europe’s digital economy.

Do you want to learn more about how to get your organization ready for the upcoming ID wallet ecosystem? Download our latest whitepaper for free.

Customer success stories

Customer success stories

The EUDI-wallet business models of the future

A new era of onboarding

A few challenges remain

In a nutshell

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