Digital Identity Update: Digital Identity Wallet to build a secure and seamless onboarding system for EU

From ordering groceries to paying taxes everything has taken a shift to digital platforms. If you are still not going digital, you are putting your survival at stake. With the spur in digitization, digital identification has become ‘fundamental’ to the everyday operation of online services, but a universally recognized and secure solution has been lacking ever since.

Up until now, the companies were in a flutter, whether to choose convenience over security or compromise security by reducing entry checks while onboarding. But EU has taken up a new project to introduce the “Digital Identity Wallet” to break the mold!

This digital wallet can be used to access both private and public digital services, and all the major platforms will be mandated to accept this digital identity as proof of the existence of that particular person. This includes using the wallet to prove your age on a gaming site or a nightclub, or while renting a car and opening a bank account in any member state.

One of the biggest strengths of creating this system would put personal data and privacy control in the hands of digital ID holders as well as enable access to public, private, and cross-border digital services. The digital identity wallet can be used anywhere in the EU to identify and authenticate for access to services in the public and private sectors, allowing citizens to control what data is communicated and how it is used, the wallet will also enable qualified electronic signatures that can facilitate political participation.

It aligns to the vision of EC (European Commission) to make the data ‘universally available’ to all EU citizens and businesses on a voluntary basis, as well as being ‘universally usable’, and being recognized by private and public service providers for all transactions that require authentication. In 2018, the EC’s eIDAS regulation came into existence which put the impetus on trust, security, and convenience online through a single set of rules on electronic identification and trust services, including electronic signatures, seals, time stamping, delivery services, and website authentication.

This means companies and individuals can use their own national e-identity (eIDs) when they do business or reside in another EU country to enable a digital single market in Europe.

Few countries in Europe already have digital identity solutions in place, and those citizens already using digital identity services will not need to go through another registration process, but the new system will build on national systems already in place. A digital ID system was priorly available in 14 countries.

It is believed that the adoption of an electronic wallet could generate as much as 9.6 billion euros ($11.7 billion) in benefits for the EU and create as many as 27,000 jobs over a five-year period, the document said.

Summing up the latest eIDAS regulations:

• This ensures that people and businesses can use their own national eID’s to access public services available online in other EU countries.
• It creates a European internal market for trust services such as electronic signatures, electronic seals, time stamps, electronic delivery services, and website authentication by ensuring that they will work across borders and have the same legal status as their traditional paper-based equivalents.

IDcentral also aims at building a convenient onboarding system for the customers to catalyze digital usage and inclusion. Know more about how IDcentral can help you ease your customer’s onboarding journey!

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