Across the EU, a major shift is underway in terms of digital identity. The eIDAS 2.0 regulation now requires every Member State to offer citizens at least one government-approved digital identity wallet by the end of 2026.

That means verified digital credentials are set to become part of everyday transactions, from accessing government services to opening a bank account or boarding a flight. It’s a big change for citizens, but it’s an even bigger change for businesses. What started as a public-sector initiative will soon become the standard for organisations across a number of industries.

As governments build the trust frameworks and technical infrastructure to issue and endorse digital IDs, enterprises will need to adapt their onboarding and compliance processes to be able to accept them securely and with minimal friction. Those that don’t will surely be left behind.

But there is value here for businesses. Not in replacing existing verification methods, but in speeding and simplifying how they are carried out. Today’s identity verification processes are already capable, accurate, and proven in the field. Typically, this involves confirming that the person interacting with a service is the rightful owner of the identity information they provide, often by comparing a government-issued document with a real-time biometric check.

Digital IDs build on that foundation by removing many of the manual steps businesses ask customers to take, such as capturing and uploading documents themselves. They also eliminate the subsequent need to verify that data against external sources, because the information arrives already endorsed by the authoritative issuer. That means organisations receive verified attributes from an authoritative source in a single, consistent flow. This creates a more predictable experience for customers and a cleaner starting point for the business workflows that follow.

Digital identity simply changes how information enters a system. Instead of asking someone to photograph a physical document—an action that can introduce delays depending on environmental conditions like lighting or the quality of a user’s camera—trusted attributes can be shared directly from the individual’s wallet. This reduces the likelihood of interruptions caused by poor image capture or incomplete data entry, where current verification methods would usually intervene.

Selective disclosure strengthens this model even further. Organisations need only request the information they require, and the user approves what is sent, greatly reducing the volume of personally identifiable information that businesses receive or store. This protects the user’s privacy while also lowering the compliance burden for businesses—the more personally identifiable information businesses need to store, the greater the risk if that data is compromised. Instead, verified data remains on the user’s device, and only the necessary fields are presented for that particular instance. As digital credentials become more widely accepted, organisations will be able to rely on them to support remote and in-person interactions with the same level of confidence.

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