The development of the European Digital Identity Wallet took center stage at the Delphi Economic Forum, where officials and industry experts discussed how the initiative could reshape interactions between citizens, businesses, and public administrations across the European Union.
The digital wallet is designed to combine identity verification, payments, and access to services into a single secure platform, usable across all EU member states. Speakers underlined that its success will depend not only on technology, but on how seamlessly it integrates into everyday life.
Building a Unified Digital Infrastructure
Mark Palmer, Vice President for Government Solutions at Visa Europe, described the wallet as a foundational piece of digital public infrastructure. He explained that it brings together digital identity, payments, and broader services into one trusted environment.
According to Palmer, adoption will depend on everyday usefulness. When linked with payments, the wallet could allow citizens to receive salaries and benefits, pay public obligations, and conduct transactions with businesses or other individuals. Each use, he noted, helps strengthen trust in the system.
He stressed that trust must be supported by strong governance, privacy protection, and full interoperability between public and private sectors, balancing security with convenience. Visa, he added, aims to support the transition with secure payment infrastructure and fraud prevention capabilities.
Designing for 27 Member States
A major challenge in developing the wallet is aligning legal and technical frameworks across 27 EU countries. According to Alexandros Manos, Commercial Director at Netcompany, the priority has been ensuring flexibility and usability so the system can serve all citizens regardless of age, gender, or nationality.
Manos noted that the project, which has been in development for five years, required reconciling significant differences in national systems and standards. The key difficulty, he said, was creating a shared core framework accepted by all stakeholders while remaining adaptable for both public and private sector use.
Everyday Use and Public Trust
Dimitrios Giantsis, General Director of Projects at Greece’s Information Society, emphasized that the wallet’s long-term success depends on its integration into daily routines. He said it must become a practical tool for transactions with both public services and financial institutions, gradually building user trust.
He also highlighted that broader digital transformation efforts are underway, including online court systems, digital foreign ministry services, and a future unified platform allowing citizens to track all interactions with the state in one place.
Business Adoption and Security Concerns
Thanos Varias, Partner at Cognity SA, said the wallet must remain a recurring choice for citizens, particularly for personal transactions. However, he stressed that trust must also be established on the business side.
Key challenges include system security, flexibility, compatibility with European standards, and ensuring the platform can evolve with new services such as messaging. Varias added that existing public-sector data could help strengthen reliability and functionality.
