The EUDI Wallet, or European Digital Identity Wallet, is a government-recognized digital identity app that lets people in the European Union store official identity data and other verified credentials on their own device and share selected attributes with public and private services. In digital identity, it is the central instrument of the eIDAS 2.0 regulation, which requires every member state to offer at least one certified wallet to its citizens and residents.
The wallet is free for natural persons and voluntary to use. It is designed to work across borders, so a wallet issued in one member state can be used to identify oneself, prove attributes or sign documents with services in any other member state.
How the EUDI Wallet works
The EUDI Wallet follows the issuer, holder and verifier model of verifiable credentials. An issuer, such as a national identity authority, a university or a licensing office, issues signed credentials into the wallet. The holder, the person, keeps them on the device. A relying party, such as a bank or a public portal, requests specific attributes and verifies the issuer’s signature cryptographically.
The foundation is the person identification data (PID), a credential containing core identity attributes such as name, date of birth and a unique identifier, issued at the level of assurance high. Further credentials, called electronic attestations of attributes, can hold diplomas, driving licenses, professional qualifications, health insurance entitlements or payment authorizations.
| Role | Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Wallet provider | Supplies and maintains the certified wallet app | Member state or mandated provider |
| PID provider | Issues the core identity credential | National identity authority |
| Attestation provider | Issues additional attribute credentials | Universities, registries, trust service providers |
| Relying party | Requests and verifies attributes | Banks, airlines, online platforms, agencies |
| Supervisory body | Oversees certification and compliance | National supervisory authorities |
Technically, the wallet stores private keys in a secure cryptographic device, such as a hardware-backed secure element or a remote hardware security module, and unlocks them with a PIN or biometrics. Credentials use standardized formats, notably SD-JWT verifiable credentials and the ISO/IEC 18013-5 mdoc format known from mobile driving licenses, exchanged through OpenID-based issuance and presentation protocols.
Key functions defined by eIDAS 2.0
The regulation defines a minimum set of functions that every certified wallet must offer. These requirements ensure that wallets from different member states behave consistently.
| Function | What it enables |
|---|---|
| Identification and authentication | Online and in-person login with high assurance |
| Selective disclosure | Sharing only required attributes, such as being over 18 |
| Qualified electronic signature | Legally equivalent signatures, free for non-professional use |
| Transaction dashboard | A log of which parties received which data |
| Data portability | Exporting wallet data to another wallet |
| Pseudonyms | Authenticating without revealing a legal identity where law allows |
| Reporting relying parties | Flagging suspicious data requests to a data protection authority |
Selective disclosure is the most important privacy feature. Instead of handing over a full identity card image, the holder proves a single statement, for example an age-over-18 attribute, and the relying party learns nothing else.
EUDI Wallet compared with other identity approaches
The EUDI Wallet sits between traditional federated login and fully decentralized models. Comparing it with neighboring approaches shows what is genuinely new.
| Approach | Who holds the data | Trust anchor | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| National eID login (eIDAS 1.0) | Identity provider, per login | Notified national schemes | Limited private-sector use |
| Social login | Platform account provider | Commercial platform | Tracking and low assurance |
| Self-sovereign identity | The user | Varies, often decentralized registries | Weak legal recognition |
| Mobile driver’s license | The user’s device | Issuing authority | Single credential type |
| EUDI Wallet | The user’s device | EU trusted lists and certification | Depends on adoption by relying parties |
Unlike classic federated login, the wallet is designed so that the issuer cannot observe where a credential is presented. Unlike pure self-sovereign identity, it relies on legally defined trust lists, certification and supervision, which gives presentations legal weight across the Union.
Adoption obligations and practical use
The regulation creates obligations on both supply and demand. Member states must provide wallets, and certain relying parties must accept them, which is intended to avoid the low uptake that limited earlier eID schemes.
- Public services that require electronic identification must accept the wallet.
- Very large online platforms must accept it when they require user authentication.
- Regulated private sectors such as banking, telecommunications, transport and health must accept it where strong identification is legally required.
- Relying parties must register and declare which attributes they intend to request.
Large-scale pilot projects have tested scenarios such as opening bank accounts, registering SIM cards, presenting diplomas, signing contracts and storing travel credentials. Rollout timelines and wallet designs differ between member states, so cross-border features may mature at different speeds.
Privacy risks and open questions
The wallet promises user control, but experts have identified risks that depend on implementation details rather than on the legal text alone.
- Linkability: reusing the same credential signatures or identifiers can let colluding relying parties correlate a person’s activity.
- Over-asking: services may request more attributes than necessary, relying on users to approve prompts without reading them.
- Device dependence: losing or replacing a phone requires secure recovery and revocation processes.
- Exclusion: people without suitable smartphones must retain access to non-digital alternatives.
- Security of the ecosystem: a flaw in a certified wallet would affect identity for an entire country.
Mitigations include batch-issued single-use credentials, registration of relying parties with declared attribute scopes and research into zero-knowledge proofs, which would allow statements to be proven without reusable signatures.
In everyday language
The EUDI Wallet is an official ID card and document folder on your phone, recognized across the European Union. It can hold your identity, your driving license, your diploma and other papers that authorities or institutions have confirmed.
When a website, bank or office needs proof of something, you choose exactly what to show. To prove you are an adult, for instance, you can share only that fact, not your name or address. The wallet is free and optional, and it also lets you sign documents legally with a few taps.
Seen in the real world
A software engineer from Portugal accepts a job in the Netherlands. Instead of mailing certified copies of documents, she uses her national EUDI Wallet. The Dutch bank asks for identity data and proof of address, and she approves the request after reviewing the listed attributes, opening an account the same day.
Her new employer then requests her diploma attestation, issued earlier into the wallet by her university, and she signs the employment contract with a qualified electronic signature from the same app. Later, her wallet dashboard shows exactly which organizations received which data. The move involves no paper copies, no notarized translations of identity documents and far less personal data shared than with photocopied ID cards.