Securing Digital Reliance for Europe: Strategies for Progressing Digital Identity
Mastercard Leads the Way in European Digital Identity Revolution
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, Mastercard is making significant strides in the realm of biometric authentication, AI-powered fraud detection, and privacy-by-design solutions. This push towards a more secure and user-friendly digital future is particularly evident in Mastercard's involvement in the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet project.
By 2030, up to 80% of EU citizens could use the EUDI Wallet for everyday tasks, marking a significant shift in digital identity management across Europe. Mastercard is collaborating with identity innovators like Lissi to securely tokenize payment credentials and integrate them into EUDI Wallets, aiming to streamline the user experience and bolster security.
The European Digital Identity Wallets are set to launch, heralding a new era of digital identity verification. The wallets will leverage concepts such as decentralised digital identity and zero-knowledge proofs to enhance data minimisation, user control, and privacy, shifting from centralized identity management to a citizen-driven model.
The progress on the EUDI Wallet is being spearheaded by the POTENTIAL Consortium pilot project, which began 30 months ago and is scheduled to conclude in September 2025. This pilot tests the functionality and interoperability of national digital wallets under the revised eIDAS regulation (eIDAS 2.0), which entered into force in May 2024.
Key players in this project include the European Commission, which launched and oversees the development within the DIGITAL Europe Programme framework. The POTENTIAL Consortium, consisting of national ministries and digital agencies, is responsible for piloting implementations and testing interoperability across EU countries. A group of experts is collaborating on an architectural framework and reference implementation to ensure cross-border compatibility.
The development of the EUDI Wallet includes creating qualified electronic signatures for users at no cost, facilitating legal digital transaction capabilities across the EU. The wallets will be open source to ensure transparency and user trust, with strong security and privacy measures embedded from the outset.
In addition to the EUDI Wallet, initiatives like the European Business Wallet (EBW) are being developed to manage identity and credentials in business-to-government and business-to-business contexts. Mastercard is contributing to industry-wide initiatives to pilot the EUDI Wallets, aiming to ensure harmonisation and wider adoption.
Mastercard's efforts extend beyond Europe, with the company certified under the U.K.'s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework as an identity provider. Mastercard is also making efforts to build trust at the national level, such as in the U.K. The company is a premier member of the OpenWallet Foundation, hosted by Linux Foundation Europe, further underscoring Mastercard's commitment to a secure and consistent global identity ecosystem.
In June 2024, Mastercard implemented new EMVCo specifications to upgrade the Identity Attribute Verification service, demonstrating the company's ongoing dedication to innovation and security in the digital identity space. Mastercard's ongoing investments aim to help Europe lead in the digital age, ensuring a trusted, consistent way to prove identity digitally and securely.
[1] European Commission. (2022). European Digital Identity Wallet. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/citizens-rights/digital-single-market/european-digital-identity-wallet_en
[2] POTENTIAL Consortium. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://potential-project.eu/
[3] European Digital Identity Wallet – EUDI Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://eudiwiki.eu/
[4] DIGITALEUROPE. (2022). European Business Wallet. Retrieved from https://www.digitaleurope.org/position-paper/european-business-wallet-ebw/
[5] Mastercard. (2022). European Digital Identity. Retrieved from https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/vision/digital-identity/european-digital-identity.html
- Mastercard, alongside its partnership with identity innovators, is not only focusing on AI-powered fraud detection in cybersecurity but also exploring applications of EUDI Wallets in sports, enabling secure digital ticketing and identity verification for fans.
- In addition to weather forecasting services, Mastercard's comprehensive strategy for the digital future encompasses the integration of EUDI Wallets' decentralised identity and zero-knowledge proof concepts to bolster data security and privacy, ensuring user control over personal information in all aspects of life.
