Banking has undergone a profound digital transformation in the last decade. Yet, despite innovations in mobile banking and AI-powered chatbots, one area has lagged: onboarding. For many banks, bringing a new customer on board remains a fragmented, manual, and compliance-heavy process. That is about to change.
With the implementation of eIDAS 2.0 and the introduction of the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW), a regulatory shift is underway that will fundamentally alter how banks verify identities, capture signatures, initiate payments, and onboard customers. This isn’t just a technical update; it’s a strategic overhaul that banks must prepare for—or risk falling behind.
This post explores how eIDAS 2.0 is redefining trust in digital services, the full suite of EUDIW functionalities, and what banks need to do to stay ahead.
What Is eIDAS 2.0 and Why It Matters for Bank Onboarding
The original eIDAS Regulation (Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services), introduced in 2014, established a legal framework for electronic identification and trust services across the EU. It was the first step toward harmonizing digital trust mechanisms, but suffered from limited adoption and fragmentation.
eIDAS 2.0, adopted in 2024, builds on this foundation. Its headline innovation is the mandatory European Digital Identity Wallet issuance by every EU member state by the end of 2026. These wallets will be voluntary and free of charge for all end users.
The goal: provide every EU citizen and resident with a secure, privacy-preserving way to share identity data, authenticate, sign documents, and conduct transactions electronically across borders.
The regulation strengthens cross-border trust, enables Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) through the wallet, and makes it possible to verify data such as age, nationality, or educational qualifications directly from trusted sources.
What Is the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW)?
At the heart of eIDAS 2.0 lies the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW). It is not just an app on your phone. It is a sovereign, government-backed identity and credential storage tool that can:
▶️ Authenticate users with high assurance across all EU countries
▶️ Store and present verifiable credentials (e.g. IBAN, tax ID, diplomas)
▶️ Enable qualified electronic signatures (QES) remotely and securely
▶️ Facilitate payments and digital transactions, including integration with credit and debit cards
▶️ Give individuals full control over what data they share, when, and with whom
EUDIW uses privacy-by-design principles and decentralized verification, meaning banks can validate information directly from authoritative sources without handling raw identity documents. This dramatically reduces fraud risk and onboarding friction.
Imagine a new customer using their EUDIW to share a verified proof of identity, tax residency, and bank account details, then signing a contract using QES—and even linking their wallet to a payment method for fee deduction—all in a single session, across borders.
Importantly, these wallets will also be capable of facilitating card payments, raising important questions about future competition with established mobile payment platforms such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Banks must closely monitor how this will reshape customer payment habits and loyalty.
How eIDAS 2.0 Impacts Banking
Banks are both custodians of identity and gatekeepers of compliance. The changes introduced by eIDAS 2.0 are not optional for them – they are strategic imperatives.
Currently, onboarding involves collecting ID scans, proof of address, and various declarations. These steps are often manual, repetitive, and error-prone. eIDAS 2.0 turns this into a seamless, trusted, real-time identity transaction.
The EUDIW lets banks:
👉 Instantly verify government-issued identity data
👉 Obtain electronic signatures with full legal effect (QES)
👉 Link to verified payment methods for instant account funding or fee payment
👉 Reduce onboarding time from days to minutes
Furthermore, the regulation mandates wallet acceptance for certain high-value and regulated services. This means banks must adapt their onboarding flows to accept EUDIW by design.
In parallel, the upcoming EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) – part of the broader EU AML Package – will reinforce the use of trusted digital identity mechanisms. Under the new framework, digital onboarding using EUDIW will be recognized as a high-assurance method of customer identification, streamlining compliance for banks while maintaining strong safeguards.
This alignment signals that wallet-based identity verification will become not just a convenience, but a regulatory standard for meeting Know Your Customer (KYC) and AML obligations across the Union.
Adapting Banking Strategy to eIDAS 2.0 and Digital Identity Wallets
eIDAS 2.0 is a catalyst for digital transformation in the financial sector. Banks must rethink not only their technology stacks but also their risk models, compliance procedures, and customer experience strategies.
Key areas of change:
✅ Technology Integration: Banks must integrate with EUDIW APIs, establish consent and credential verification endpoints, and support qualified signatures and wallet-based payments.
✅ Legal and Risk Compliance: Banks will need to re-evaluate their KYC/AML workflows to ensure wallet-based onboarding meets regulatory standards.
✅ Customer Experience: Those who offer wallet-based onboarding will be able to serve customers faster and with less friction, gaining a competitive advantage.
✅ Cross-border Services: With EUDIW, banks can onboard customers from any EU country using the same trusted infrastructure.
Forward-thinking banks can use this as an opportunity to develop new products and services, such as instant loan approvals, remote mortgage signing, seamless fee payments, and cross-border SME onboarding, with confidence in digital identity assurance.
EUDIW and the Future of Frictionless Customer Onboarding
The most immediate benefit of EUDIW for end-users is convenience. Customers gain a consistent onboarding experience across services and borders, without having to scan documents or visit branches.
More importantly, users stay in control. They choose which data to share, for what purpose, and for how long. This aligns with broader digital trust trends and can help banks foster long-term relationships built on transparency and respect.
The result is:
🔹 Higher conversion rates
🔹 Lower abandonment
🔹 Increased customer satisfaction and trust
In addition to identification and signing, EUDIW’s ability to facilitate card-based and direct wallet payments could further streamline account opening and usage.
Challenges and Open Questions
As with any large-scale digital reform, eIDAS 2.0 raises important implementation questions:
Adoption Pace: How quickly will wallets be issued and used by customers?
Fragmentation Risk: Will different national implementations create inconsistency?
Competition with Big Tech: How will EUDIW-based payments and identification services compete with established solutions like Google Wallet and Apple Pay?
Interoperability with Legacy Systems: Can banks integrate EUDIW without major backend overhauls?
Despite these concerns, the regulatory direction is clear: wallets will become a standard part of digital interactions in Europe.
Conclusion: Preparing for a Wallet-Centric Future
eIDAS 2.0 and the European Digital Identity Wallet mark a new era of digital trust. For banks, this is more than a compliance issue. It’s a chance to lead the transformation of identity-based services.
Those who embrace this change can create faster, safer, and more inclusive onboarding journeys. Those who delay may find themselves burdened by outdated processes, higher fraud risk, and lower customer engagement.
With wallet issuance required by 2026 and functionalities spanning identity, signing, and payments, now is the time to invest in wallet readiness and reshape onboarding for the digital age.
A Call to Action: Lead with Trust, Win with Experience
By the end of 2026, every EU citizen will have access to a digital identity wallet, and expectations around onboarding will never be the same. Banks that act now can move beyond checklists and compliance and become leaders in digital trust.
This is your chance to reimagine onboarding not as a bureaucratic hurdle, but as a moment of connection, a first impression, and the foundation of a trusted relationship.
So ask yourself: When your future customer pulls out their digital wallet—will your bank be ready to greet them?
The future of onboarding is already here. It’s secure. It’s instant. It fits in your customer’s pocket. And it’s waiting for you to act.
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Stipe Sumić
Digital Trust Services expert specializing in e-signature, e-identification, input management, digital transactions, and enterprise content management.
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