The Evolution of Digital Identity and Wallets
In recent decades, digitization has revolutionized the way we interact with the world, introducing new ways of accessing services and managing personal identity. From the first digital identification systems to modern digital wallets, the path of evolution has been rapid and marked by technological innovations.
Digital wallets, such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay, are already an established reality for payments and digital card management, but their future looks even more promising thanks to European projects related to digital identity, such as the eIDAS 2 regulation and the EUDI Wallet.
From eIDAS to the Electronic Identity Card: A Step Toward the Future
The eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) regulation, introduced in 2014, was the first step of the European Union to create a common regulatory framework on digital identification and electronic trust services. This regulation allowed Member States to adopt interoperable digital identity systems, facilitating access to public and private services across borders.
In Italy, this process saw the transition from paper to electronic identity cards and the introduction of SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale), which today has almost 36 million users. However, while SPID has been a notable success, Europe has started working on a more advanced and integrated solution: eIDAS 2.
The new eIDAS 2 regulation, approved in 2023, aims to strengthen digital identification in the European Union, putting citizens' personal data sovereignty at the center. This evolution aims to overcome the limitations of current systems, introducing the concept of a European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet). The goal is to create a unified and interoperable system that allows European citizens to manage their personal data and documents in a secure and accessible way.
The EUDI Wallet is a digital wallet that will allow European citizens to store and use documents such as electronic identity cards, driving licenses, diplomas, health certificates and even banking information. This tool will offer numerous advantages:
- Accessibility and Convenience: All documents will be available in one place, eliminating the risk of losing them.
- Security: Data will be protected by advanced authentication systems, reducing the risk of identity theft. In addition, access to the data will be in the hands of the individual, who will have full control over them.
- Versatility: It will be possible to use the wallet to pay taxes, sign contracts, access public services and much more.
- Interoperability: Documents will be recognized in every member country, facilitating travel and cross-border interactions.
Large Scale European Pilot - The use case for opening a savings account
To ensure the implementation of the EUDI Wallet, the European Union has initiated a series of collaborations with consortia of companies and institutions. These groups are working to define technical specifications and ensure interoperability between different national systems. Collaboration between governments, technology companies and nonprofit organizations is key to creating an ecosystem that is secure, reliable and accessible to all.
In this sense, Banca Sella is active and participates in 2 LSPs, EWC and NOBID, playing an active role within NOBID's WP6, aimed at experimenting with the opening of a current account through wallet use. A naturally long and complex process such as opening a current account (the complexity of which increases in case of accounts on international customers) is decisively simplified with the European Digital Identity (EUDI). A customer should simply respond to the bank's verification request by selecting the necessary documents stored in his or her digital wallet, all in a standardized format. The bank instantly verifies the information using cryptographically signed Verifiable Credentials, which have already been authenticated. And just like that, the account is opened and the customer gets instant access to banking services-all in seconds!
The first in-house experimentation with Makers and Gataca Wallet
In order to be able to test features and modalities of the new Digital Identity wallet, we integrated Gataca's EUDI wallet within the Open Innovation Makers platform. This is an initial internal test, aimed at understanding the new login modes offered by this tool, with the goal of being able to integrate it, in the future, across the entire product offering, both internal and external to the Bank.
A Digital Future
The eIDAS 2 and EUDI Wallet represent a major breakthrough in digital identity. With their launch scheduled by 2025, these tools promise to improve security, convenience and interoperability in accessing digital services. However, it is essential to address the challenges related to privacy, security, and collaboration among the different actors involved.
The future of digital identity is already here, and Europe is preparing to lead this transformation by laying the groundwork for a secure, inclusive, and innovative digital ecosystem.