Straubing – September 15, 2026 -- Germany's Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger unveiled the EUDI Wallet on Wednesday, a state-backed digital identity tool that lets citizens store ID cards, driver's licenses and certificates securely on a smartphone.
Government rolls out smartphone-based ID replacing paper documents
The wallet is designed to shorten or eliminate in-person visits to public administration offices, cutting paper use and removing the need to copy, stamp and physically present official documents. Officials frame the launch as a foundational step toward a more reliable digital identity infrastructure for modern administration.
Businesses gain new tool for customer identity verification
Beyond government interactions, the wallet is built to let users verify their identity directly to companies, opening a potential channel for B2B and B2C identity-verification processes that currently rely on physical documents or manual checks. This dual-use design -- serving both public administration and private-sector transactions -- positions the wallet as infrastructure relevant to sectors handling identity-sensitive services, including finance, telecommunications and retail.
The rollout follows years of delay in Germany's digital identity efforts, with commentators noting the wallet is "overdue" given long-standing gaps between the country's administrative digitization ambitions and actual deployment.