What are EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallets

This article is a plain-language introduction to the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet): a wallet that EU Member States must make available, free of charge to natural persons, so you can prove who you are online, carry your important digital documents, share only the details a service actually needs, and sign with legal effect. It addresses a familiar problem: managing many logins and re-proving your identity to each new service. It is built on the revised eIDAS Regulation, known as eIDAS 2.0 [1][3], and the technical rules behind it live in the European Digital Identity Wallet Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF) [2].

Target audience: Business leaders, product managers, and developers who are new to the EUDI Wallet and want a clear, no-jargon orientation before going deeper.

1.0 What is the EU Digital Identity Wallet?

The EUDI Wallet is a mobile app that holds your digital identity and your digital documents, and lets you use them, under your control, with online and in-person services across Europe.

Three things make it different from the identity apps you may already use:

• It is made available through Member States, to a common European standard. Each Member State must provide at least one certified wallet, directly, under a mandate, or by recognising one provided independently. The common specifications are what make a wallet issued in one country work in another [1][3].
• It is yours to control. You decide what to share, with whom, and when. Nothing leaves the wallet without your action.
• It works across borders. A credential placed in your wallet by an issuer in one country can be presented to a service provider in another, because the trust rules are agreed at EU level [1].

In short, the EUDI Wallet turns "trust me, this is who I am" into something a service can verify on solid, standardised, cryptographic grounds.

2.0 Why it exists

Today, digital identity in Europe is fragmented. Each service runs its own login. Each country has its own national eID scheme, and those schemes rarely work smoothly across borders. The result is password fatigue for citizens and a costly, repeated identity-checking burden for businesses.

eIDAS 2.0 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183), which entered into force on 20 May 2024, was created to fix this [3]. It updates the original 2014 eIDAS Regulation and introduces the EUDI Wallet as a portable, interoperable, privacy-preserving way for people and businesses in Europe to identify themselves and share trusted information, the same way everywhere.

For the regulatory background, including how eIDAS 2.0 differs from eIDAS 1.0, see our companion guide Introduction to eIDAS 2.0 and Digital Wallets.

3.0 What the wallet can do: the four functions

At its simplest, the EUDI Wallet does four things [1].

• Authenticate. Prove who you are to a public or private service with a few taps, no username or password required.
• Store. Keep the digital documents you need, your identity data and attestations, in one place.
• Share. Present just the information a service asks for, and no more. To prove you are over 18, the wallet can confirm exactly that without revealing your date of birth.
• Sign. Create legally binding electronic signatures straight from the wallet, for example to sign a contract.

4.0 What the wallet holds

The wallet carries your core identity (PID) and several legal categories of "attestations of attributes", the digital equivalents of the documents in your physical wallet [1][2].

Type	What it is	Who issues it	Assurance or legal effect	Example
PID	Person Identification Data, the core data used to establish a person's identity	A PID Provider under the Member State's eID scheme	Bound to a high-assurance wallet and eID scheme	Name, date of birth, national identifier
QEAA	Qualified Electronic Attestation of Attributes	A qualified trust service provider	Same legal effect as a lawfully issued paper attestation	Diploma or professional licence
PuB-EAA	Public-sector Electronic Attestation of Attributes	A public sector body responsible for an authentic source (or one acting on its behalf)	Same legal effect as a lawfully issued paper attestation	Civil-register or social-security attribute
EAA	(non-qualified) Electronic Attestation of Attributes	A non-qualified attestation provider	Not denied legal effect or admissibility just for being electronic, but no automatic paper-equivalence	Gym membership, event ticket, loyalty card

These legal categories are separate from the technical format. The documents can be carried as W3C Verifiable Credentials, IETF SD-JWT, or ISO 18013-5 mDoc/mDL. For when to choose each, see Credential Formats in EUDI Wallets.

5.0 Who is involved: the ecosystem

The EUDI Wallet is, by design, an open ecosystem with no single owner. Several roles work together, and the trust between them is what makes a credential issued by a stranger acceptable to another stranger [1][2].

• Member State: legally responsible for providing at least one wallet and for the wallet certification framework.
• Wallet Provider: a Member State, or an organisation mandated or recognised by one, responsible for making a certified wallet available.
• Wallet User: the citizen, resident, or business that uses the wallet.
• Issuers: organisations that put data into your wallet, including the PID Provider for core identity and attestation providers for QEAA, PuB-EAA, and non-qualified EAA documents.
• Relying Party (Service Provider / Verifier): any organisation that asks for, and relies on, information from your wallet.
• Trust System: the trusted lists, certificates, and rules that let any party check that the others are genuine and registered or certified where required.

This is the same ecosystem framing we use in our deep dive on how a wallet proves it is genuine to an issuer; see Wallet Unit Attestation (WUA). In practice, iGrant.io implements these roles with two products: the Data Wallet for EUDI Wallet for individuals (the holder), and the Organisation Wallet for EUDI Wallet for issuers and relying parties. Section 9.0 shows how to build with them.

6.0 The principles that make it trustworthy

The EUDI Wallet is built around a small set of principles that recur throughout the regulation and the technical framework [1][3]:

• User control and data minimisation. You decide what to share, and the wallet shares only what is necessary for the transaction.
• Privacy by design. The wallet is designed so that providers cannot track where and how you use your credentials.
• Security. Strong cryptography, certified wallet components, and protected cryptographic keys keep wallet data and operations trustworthy.
• Interoperability. Common EU specifications mean a wallet works the same way, and across borders, everywhere in the Union.
• Voluntary and free. Use of the wallet is voluntary, and its issuance, use, and revocation are free of charge for natural persons.

7.0 Availability and timeline

eIDAS 2.0 obliges every Member State to provide at least one EUDI Wallet to its citizens, residents, and businesses within 24 months of the entry into force of the implementing acts on wallet implementation and certification. The European Commission summarises the rollout as national wallets reaching citizens by the end of 2026 [3][4]. A Member State can provide the wallet itself, mandate another party to provide it, or recognise one provided independently.

For individuals the wallet is voluntary and free to use; you choose whether to adopt it. Because all national wallets are built to the same specifications, one issued in your country is designed to be accepted across the EU.

8.0 Where to go next

This primer is the on-ramp. To go deeper, continue through the EUDI Wallet Insights series:

• The business case: The EUDI Wallet (eIDAS 2.0): A Business Guide to Use Cases
• The regulation: Introduction to eIDAS 2.0 and Digital Wallets
• For organisations: European Business Wallets
• How credentials are issued: Credential Issuance Lifecycle (OpenID4VCI)
• How documents are formatted: Credential Formats in EUDI Wallets
• How a wallet proves it is genuine: Wallet Unit Attestation (WUA)

9.0 Build it with iGrant.io

At iGrant.io, the concepts above map to building blocks for both sides of the EUDI Wallet ecosystem, aligned with eIDAS 2.0 and OpenID4VC.

9.1 The products

• For individuals: the iGrant.io Data Wallet for EUDI Wallet is a mobile app, also available as a white-label SDK, that lets a person store, manage, and present their PID and other credentials with full user control.
• For organisations: the iGrant.io Organisation Wallet for EUDI Wallet lets a legal entity act as issuer, holder, and verifier at once: issuing (Q)EAAs over OpenID4VCI and verifying presentations over OpenID4VP, with revocation and webhook support. It is the practical foundation for a European Business Wallet.

9.2 See it in action

The four functions from Section 3.0 are easiest to grasp by trying them. These live scenarios run on the products above:

• Issue a test PID to your wallet.
• KYC with a Photo ID and address proof, requested over OpenID4VP.
• Open a bank account using your PID and a Qualified Electronic Signature Access Credential.
• Log in to a bank, passwordless, with wallet authentication.
• Browse all demo scenarios.

9.3 Start building

When you are ready to write code, the developer Get Started guide is the map for issuing, holding, and verifying credentials with OpenID4VC. A good first step is Issue Credential (In-Time), which ends with a working, scannable QR code; the verifier side is covered by Send and Verify Credential.

10.0 Frequently asked questions

Is the EUDI Wallet free?

Yes. eIDAS 2.0 requires the issuance, use, and revocation of EUDI Wallets to be free of charge to all natural persons [3]. You do not pay to obtain or use your national wallet.

Is it mandatory to use the EUDI Wallet?

No. Use of the EUDI Wallet is voluntary. Member States are obliged to provide at least one wallet, but you choose whether to adopt it [1][3].

When will the EUDI Wallet be available?

Every Member State must provide at least one wallet within 24 months of the entry into force of the implementing acts on wallet implementation and certification. The European Commission summarises the rollout as national wallets reaching citizens by the end of 2026 [3][4].

What is the difference between PID, QEAA, PuB-EAA, and EAA?

PID is the core data used to establish your identity. A QEAA is issued by a qualified trust service provider and has the same legal effect as a lawfully issued paper attestation. A PuB-EAA is issued by, or on behalf of, a public sector body responsible for an authentic source and carries the same paper-equivalent effect. A non-qualified EAA is still legally usable and admissible as evidence, but does not get automatic paper-equivalence. See Section 4.0.

Will my EUDI Wallet work in other EU countries?

Yes. All national wallets are built to the same EU specifications, so a credential issued in one country is designed to be accepted by services across the EU [1].

Is the EUDI Wallet secure and private?

Yes. The framework is designed for security and privacy: it uses certified wallet components, protected cryptographic keys, user control, and selective disclosure, so the wallet shares only the data a service actually needs (data minimisation) [1][2].

References

1. European Commission (2026), 'What is the Wallet', EU Digital Identity Wallet, Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/spaces/EUDIGITALIDENTITYWALLET/pages/791609471/What+is+the+Wallet
2. European Commission (2026), 'The European Digital Identity Wallet Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF) 2.9.0', Available at: https://eudi.dev/2.9.0/architecture-and-reference-framework-main/
3. European Parliament and Council (2024), 'Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 (eIDAS 2.0)', Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1183/oj
4. European Commission (2026), 'European Digital Identity (EUDI) Regulation', Shaping Europe's digital future, Available at: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/eudi-regulation