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EUDI Wallet

European Digital Identity Wallet

A mobile app provided by each Member State, containing the citizen's official identity, their verified attributes (driving licence, diploma, etc.) and a qualified signature key. The operational building block of eIDAS 2.

See also:eIDAS 2FranceConnectQESSCAOAuth2WebAuthn / PasskeysKYC / KYB

Definition

The EUDI Wallet (European Digital Identity Wallet) is the operational building block of eIDAS 2: a mobile app provided by each Member State.

It holds the citizen's official identity (PID), verified attestations (diplomas, driving licence, health card), a qualified signature key (QES) and strong authentication means (biometrics + secure element). Each State must provide at least one by the end of 2026; the wallet is opt-in for the citizen but mandatorily accepted by VLOPs, banks, telecoms and public administrations.

Architecture (per the ARF)

Credentials come in the form of the PID (identity signed by the State), AAQ (qualified attribute attestations issued by a TSP), AANQ (non-qualified, issued by any player) and QES (an embedded qualified signature key). On the standards side: OpenID4VCI for issuance, OpenID4VP for presentation, SD-JWT for selective disclosure, mDoc (ISO 18013-5), W3C Verifiable Credentials and an X.509 PKI anchored on the EU LOTL.

Assurance levels

  • High — for the PID, equivalent to the national e-ID card: in-person enrolment, hardware secure element, biometrics.
  • Substantial — for most everyday attestations, equivalent to SCA.
  • Low — limited use (loyalty…).

The role of the States

Each State must notify at least one wallet to the Commission, issue the PID free of charge, submit the wallet to an ARF audit, and guarantee its availability, security and portability. It can provide it directly (France Identité) or accredit private operators (the banking model in some countries).

The France Identité case

The France Identité app (DINUM + Interior Ministry) has existed since 2022, integrates the national e-ID card, is evolving towards the French EUDI wallet, works with the ANSSI for High qualification and integrates with FranceConnect+.

Privacy by design

  • Selective disclosure (SD-JWT): revealing only what is requested ("of age" without the date of birth).
  • Unlinkability: two presentations cannot be linked to each other by the verifiers.
  • Local wallet: credentials stay on the phone, with no surveillable central database.

Main use cases

  • Banking: instant remote KYC (end of video + ID scan), universal SCA, contract signing via QES.
  • Public: administrative procedures, plane boarding (mDoc), health card and prescriptions.
  • Private: age verification, diplomas on a CV, driving licence shown to the police.

What the EUDI Wallet is not

  • Not a payment wallet (at this stage): no cards or IBANs, even though convergence is possible.
  • Not a single digital national e-ID card: it is a container of attestations of which the e-ID card is one.
  • Not mandatory for the citizen: opt-in, but major services must accept it.
  • Not a single European product: one wallet per State, interoperable via the ARF.
  • Not Apple Wallet: Apple Wallet is private and proprietary; the EUDI is public and standardised, even though Apple Wallet could distribute EUDI credentials.

The Large Scale Pilots

Four consortia are testing the wallet in 2024-2025: POTENTIAL (bank account, payment, health, travel, signature), NOBID (payment focus, Nordic countries + Italy), EWC (travel, payment) and DC4EU (education, social security).

Operational timeline

  • 2024-2025 — pilots under way, ARF stabilised.
  • 2026 — each State provides its wallet.
  • 2027 — VLOPs and banks must accept it.

In the PSD2 / FIDA ecosystem

The EUDI Wallet is the identity anchor of European Open Finance:

  • DSP3 / PSR: SCA via the wallet, the end of the SMS OTP and the siloed banking app.
  • FIDA: PSU authentication for data sharing.
  • AMLR: pan-European KYC and harmonisation of CDD standards.

Concrete examples

  • France Identité: more than 1M downloads in 2025, the basis of the French wallet.
  • Qonto: demo in the POTENTIAL pilot — KYC of a German GmbH via a DE wallet, account opening in under 5 minutes.
  • Apple iOS: Apple agreed in 2024 to open NFC access to enable the EUDI Wallet (DMA + eIDAS).
  • Open Wallet Foundation vs Apple/Google: a European desire to avoid capture by proprietary US wallets.
  • Aadhaar comparison: Aadhaar is centralised (a state database), the EUDI is decentralised (local wallet) — two opposing models.
  • xPay link: in the long run, identity (EUDI) and payment (xPay, Wero) could merge into a unified European wallet.

Sources

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