National digital identities in Europe: the landscape before the wallet

In short: long before the European digital identity wallet (EUDI Wallet), many European countries already have widely adopted national digital identities. France Identité and FranceConnect in France, itsme in Belgium, BankID in Sweden or MitID in Denmark, SPID and the CIE in Italy, the German eID, DigiD in the Netherlands: these schemes already let people identify themselves to public and private services, with adoption rates reaching 80 to 95% in Northern Europe. Most will be recognised under eIDAS 2.0 and will coexist with the wallet during a long hybrid period. For a pan-European company, the stakes are clear: being able to accept this mosaic of identities today, without waiting for the wallet, with a document fallback for those who do not have one. The names and rates cited here are given as an indication and are evolving.

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National digital identities that are already massive

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There is a lot of talk about the future European digital identity wallet. Yet digital identity is nothing new in Europe: it has been part of the daily life of millions of citizens for years.

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In several countries, logging in to the tax office, social security, your bank or a telecom operator already goes through a national digital identity method. These solutions have been rolled out at different paces, with varied models: some are run by the state, others by banks, others still by private consortia backed by a public framework.

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What these schemes have in common is that they let you prove who you are online, with a high level of assurance, without having to systematically send back a photo of your ID document. In Northern Europe, adoption is such that an overwhelming share of the working population uses them several times a week.

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Understanding this landscape is essential before talking about the European wallet: the wallet does not start from a blank page, it fits in with systems that are already well established.

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Country-by-country overview

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Here are the main digital identity schemes in Europe. The adoption rates are given as an indication and may vary depending on sources and periods.

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France

France is progressing on two complementary building blocks. FranceConnect is the federated identification system that lets people log in to many public services by reusing an existing account (tax office, health insurance, etc.). France Identité is the official application that relies on the new electronic national identity card and its chip, with NFC reading, to provide a higher level of assurance and, ultimately, a fully recognised sovereign digital identity.

French adoption is progressing, driven by the widespread rollout of the electronic identity card and by the massive use of FranceConnect in the public sphere.

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Belgium

Belgium stands out as a benchmark with itsme, a digital identity application launched by a consortium of banks and telecom operators. itsme is used both to log in to public services and to sign contracts, authenticate with your bank or with insurers.

Its adoption is very strong among the connected adult population, making it one of the most accomplished examples of a digital identity driven by a regulated private model.

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Nordic countries

It is in Northern Europe that adoption is the most spectacular. In Sweden, BankID has become a de facto standard: almost the entire working population uses it for banking, public services and many private services. In Denmark, MitID (which succeeded NemID) plays the same central role.

In these countries, adoption rates often sit in a range of 80 to 95%. Digital identity is so deeply embedded there that it is difficult to access some essential services without it.

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Italy

Italy also combines two systems. SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale) is a digital identity system provided by several accredited providers, widely used to access public services. The CIE (Carta d'Identità Elettronica), the Italian electronic identity card, enables identification backed by the document's chip.

These two building blocks have helped spread the use of digital identity widely among Italian citizens.

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Germany and the Netherlands

In Germany, the eID function built into the national identity card lets people identify themselves online via the document's chip, with reading by smartphone. Its adoption was long slower, but it is progressing with the digitalisation of procedures.

In the Netherlands, DigiD is the reference identification method for accessing public services and many essential services. It is very widely used by the population for administrative and healthcare procedures.

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Their link with eIDAS 2.0 and the European wallet

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These national identities are not going to disappear with the arrival of the European wallet. On the contrary, the eIDAS 2.0 regulation organises their recognition and articulation at Union level.

Many of these schemes are already notified or on their way to being notified under eIDAS, which gives them cross-border recognition. With eIDAS 2.0, they are intended to be recognised or integrated into the new framework, while coexisting with the future EUDI Wallet. To understand how this wallet works and its stakes, our dedicated article details what you need to know about eIDAS 2.0 and the European digital identity wallet.

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The key point to remember is that there will be no abrupt switch from one day to the next. We are entering a long hybrid period during which the following will coexist:

• the historical national digital identities (itsme, BankID, MitID, SPID, DigiD, etc.);
• the European wallet, rolled out gradually and at a different pace depending on the country;
• classic document verification for everyone who does not have any of these methods.

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In other words, for several years, the same journey may be completed in several ways depending on the country and the user's profile. Anticipating this coexistence is precisely the purpose of our guide on how to prepare for eIDAS 2.0.

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What it means for a pan-European company

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For a company that sells, lends, insures or onboards customers in several European countries, this landscape has very concrete consequences.

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First, you have to accept the idea that there is not one single digital identity method in Europe, but a mosaic of national schemes. A Belgian customer will naturally show up with itsme, a Swede with BankID, a Dutch customer with DigiD, a French customer with France Identité or FranceConnect. Refusing these methods means adding friction and losing customers at the most sensitive moment of the journey.

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Next, you have to plan for a fallback. Not all users have a national digital identity, and the European wallet will take time to become widespread. A robust journey must therefore always offer a document verification (ID document check, NFC reading of the chip, liveness check) for those who do not have a usable national scheme.

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Finally, you have to aim for ease of integration. Multiplying technical connections, one per country and per scheme, is costly and fragile. The goal is to be able to accept existing national identities today, plug in the European wallet tomorrow, and keep a document fallback as a safety net, all through a single, unified integration.

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This is exactly the logic Meelo delivers: offering a single entry point capable of orchestrating these different means of identity proof, in France and internationally, without waiting for the wallet to become widespread.

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In conclusion

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National digital identity is already a European reality, well before the arrival of the common wallet. France Identité, itsme, BankID, MitID, SPID, the German eID and DigiD shape the digital daily life of millions of citizens, with adoption levels sometimes close to saturation in Northern Europe.

The eIDAS 2.0 regulation does not wipe the slate clean of this existing base: it organises it and makes it coexist with the EUDI Wallet during a long hybrid period. For a pan-European company, the right strategy is not to wait for the wallet, but to know how to accept this mosaic of identities right now, while keeping a document fallback for those who do not have one.

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Sources: European Commission (eIDAS regulation and eIDAS 2.0 framework), national digital identity programmes (France Identité and FranceConnect, itsme, BankID, MitID, SPID and CIE, eID, DigiD). Names and adoption rates given as an indication and subject to change.

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