Sweden-based Scytáles AB together with Netcompany-Intrasoft , has been offered the European Digital Identity Wallet contract, encompassing development, consultancy, and support services. In 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and following announcements as early as 2020 by Commission President, the European Commission announced its plans for a European Digital Identity framework available to all EU citizens, residents, and businesses.

The ultimate objective is a secure European e-identity, available to all EU citizens, across the EU and across activities. This would include digital identification means, electronic signatures, validation of documents and would entail transparency of data use. The European Digital Identity Wallet will provide the benchmark for secure and transparent digital identification across the EU, ensuring at the same time the safety of the data that each citizen provides.

The benefits are multi-fold from ease of use to cost reductions for businesses to cross-border transactions made possible, as the press release says. The wallet will be developed by Scytáles AB and Luxembourg-based consortium Netcompany-Intrasoft and will be offered to EU member states and other stakeholders for implementing the requirements of the regulation on a framework for a European Digital Identity. Representatives say that the EU Digital Wallet will simplify daily life for EU citizens and businesses and create growth opportunities for public and private services across the EU.

Digital identity wallets in EU and US As we found out in our interview with Jenn Markey from Entrust, different approaches to digital identity in the EU and US are less a reflection of the available technology choices and more about different perspectives regarding the role of the government and enterprise related to identity. For example, most Americans eschew the idea of a government-issued national ID perceiving it as an overreach of the state – while national ID is an acceptable (even desirable) concept with EU citizens. At the same time, many Americans are more than happy to use their identity credentials within their ApplePay or GooglePay e-wallets.

However, the adoption of xPay branded wallets has EU governments very concerned that their citizens’ identities are being compiled and controlled by foreign-owned corporations, which represents the catalyst behind the European Digital Identity initiative. The benefits of a EU digital identity scheme In a recent article with Roland Eichenauer from Nets we found out that the EU Digital Identity Wallet will support multiple use cases that collectively amount to easy and secure storage of citizens' digital ID documents and makes sharing information with companies and institutions more convenient. Importantly, it will harmonise the use of digital identities across Europe.

Usefully, the benefits of such a facility also extend beyond the individual citizen. Banks, financial institutions, and other businesses need to meet essential Know Your Customer (KYC) security obligations, requiring user identity verification that can often need inconvenient visits to physical branch offices. 'Remote KYC' solutions have been launched over recent years to remove these limitations, but they have yet to offer what customers really want: a fully digital and automated process.

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