ETSI has released the first set of standards supporting the European Digital Identity Wallet, moving the EU wallet program closer to broad use on smartphones across member states.
The standards are designed to let EU citizens and residents use a wallet on their phone to prove identity, share verified attributes, store official documents, and sign documents with legally binding electronic signatures. ETSI says the wallet ecosystem is intended to support both public and private services, including government services, healthcare, banking, travel, education, and employment-related credentials.
The work is directly relevant to mobile identity because every EU member state will be required to offer at least one wallet to users. The standards address wallet-specific attestation profiles, certificate policies, trust list formats, remote signing protocols, identity proofing, and long-term data preservation. ETSI says the goal is to make wallets interoperable across borders while using strong cryptography and data minimization to limit unnecessary personal data sharing.
The standards build on a wider EU wallet rollout already moving through pilots and implementation work. European institutions have also been preparing complementary infrastructure for mobile credentials, including a broader set of digital identity implementation timelines and early wallet use cases in banking, travel, and public services.
For users, the practical change is that digital identity functions now tied to separate apps, documents, passwords, and portals are being pulled into a common wallet model. The same phone-based credential may eventually be used to sign paperwork, prove age, access cross-border services, or present a license or diploma without handing over more information than the transaction requires.
ETSI’s Electronic Signatures and trust Infrastructures committee will continue work through 2026 and 2027, including conversion of technical specifications into European Standards, large-scale pilot feedback, interoperability testing, and additional wallet components.
Sources: ETSI
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By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team
