EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) explained

The EU Digital Identity Wallet, usually shortened to EUDI Wallet, is a mobile app that holds your official identity data and other verified credentials and lets you present them to online or in-person services. It is created by eIDAS 2.0 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183). Member states must offer at least one wallet by late December 2026, use is voluntary, and it is free of charge for individuals.

What it is meant to do

Think of it as a digital wallet for proofs rather than for payment cards. You receive credentials from issuers, keep them on your phone, and show them when asked.

Typical uses include:

• Identifying yourself to a public authority or a bank, in your own or another EU country.
• Showing a mobile driving licence, for example when renting a car.
• Proving an attribute such as ‘over 18’ without revealing your birth date.
• Signing documents with a qualified electronic signature, free of charge for non-professional use.
• Storing other attestations, for example diplomas, professional qualifications, health insurance or social security data, tickets and membership cards.

The three roles

The wallet ecosystem has three roles, a pattern familiar from the W3C verifiable credentials model.

1. Issuers create credentials. The most important is the issuer of the person identification data (PID), usually a national authority. Other issuers include universities, driving licence authorities and employers.
2. The holder is you, with the wallet on your device.
3. Verifiers, called relying parties, ask for credentials. They must register in their member state and declare which data they intend to request, so that the wallet can show you who is asking and why.

How it works under the hood

The wallet is not a single technology but a stack of open standards defined in the Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF), which the Commission and member states maintain openly on GitHub, and in implementing regulations adopted in late 2024 and 2025.

• Issuing credentials uses OpenID4VCI.
• Presenting credentials uses OpenID4VP, both remotely (in a browser or app) and for proximity use cases.
• Credential formats are SD-JWT VC and the mdoc format of ISO/IEC 18013-5. Both support revealing only selected attributes.
• Keys are bound to your device. The most sensitive keys live in a secure element or equivalent hardware-backed component, so that credentials cannot simply be copied to another phone.
• Trust comes from published lists of trusted issuers and registered relying parties, with the wallet checking signatures and certificates.

If you come from the older OpenID world, this is the direct descendant of the same federation ideas, rebuilt around credentials you hold. Our history section explains the path from OpenID to the wallet.

A typical user journey

Exact steps will differ by country, but the flow is likely to look like this.

1. Install the official wallet app from the link published by your government.
2. Set a PIN and, if you wish, biometric unlock.
3. Obtain your identity credential by proving who you are once, for example with a national ID card, a residence permit or a bank-grade identification.
4. Add further credentials such as a driving licence from the issuing authority.
5. When a service asks for data, the wallet shows who is asking and which attributes. You approve, and the wallet presents them by QR code, NFC or a secure link.
6. Review the dashboard to see what you have shared.

What the wallet is not

It is not a central database of citizens: credentials stay on your device and are issued by authorities that already hold the data. It is not a payment card, although payments are among the use cases being piloted. It is not mandatory, and it does not replace your physical documents. And it is not a single product from one vendor: it is a set of rules that many implementations follow.

Who provides the wallet

Each member state either issues its own wallet, mandates one, or recognises an independent one, as long as it is certified to meet the regulation. Germany, for example, is building a state wallet and plans to allow certified private wallets later. In other countries existing national apps are being upgraded, such as mObywatel in Poland, and Austria, Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia have confirmed similar paths. The application software components of the wallets are to be released as open source, with limited exceptions.

Where things stand in October 2026

The picture is mixed, and you should treat any ‘EU wallet is live’ headline carefully.

• Denmark launched its national wallet AltID in June 2026, with a digital ID and a proof of age. Its certification as an EU wallet was expected towards the end of 2026.
• Germany runs a public sandbox for organisations and plans the first public stage of its state wallet in early 2027.
• Italy, France, Norway and Switzerland also offer test environments or national apps; Switzerland is not an EU member; its own e-ID was postponed in June 2026 and is now expected in 2027.
• Many other states are still at pilot or announcement stage, and ENISA’s certification scheme for wallets was in public consultation in spring 2026.

Our rollout timeline is updated as the situation changes.

Privacy and security in short

The regulation requires privacy by design: you choose what to share, a dashboard shows past transactions, and wallet providers may not track your usage. Real-world strength depends on implementation, especially on how unlinkability between presentations is achieved. See privacy and security for details.

What to do now

You do not need to prepare much. Keep your phone’s operating system up to date, use a screen lock, and set up a reliable backup route for your phone. If your country already issues a national eID, learn how it works, because the wallet is likely to build on it. For official background, see the European Commission’s wallet portal.