Digital ID Wallets and Beyond: Exploring the Convergence of Identity, KYC, and Payments

On 3 December 2025, a high-level roundtable entitled “Digital ID Wallets and Beyond: Data Orchestration, KYC, and Payments” convened international experts to examine how digital identity wallets are reshaping digital governance, financial services, and cross-border interoperability. The session took place as part of the “ID – Rethinking Digital Governance: Balancing Sovereignty and Global Collaboration” programme.

The roundtable explored the growing role of digital ID wallets as user-centric tools designed to give individuals greater control over their identity and personal data, while enabling secure and seamless access to both public services and private-sector applications. A central question guided the discussion: can digital identity wallets truly simplify digital onboarding, strengthen Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, and integrate payments into a single trusted experience?

Among the speakers, Alain Martin, Member of the Board of Directors of the Smart Payment Association, offered a pragmatic and experience-driven perspective on the intersection between digital identity and payments—particularly in the context of Europe’s forthcoming EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet. He cautioned against viewing payments as a straightforward “killer use case” for digital identity wallets, noting that while the opportunity is real, the challenges are often underestimated.

Drawing on a recent white paper developed by the Smart Payment Association in collaboration with the Secure Identity Alliance, Alain M*artin highlighted that regulatory frameworks such as eIDAS 2 and PSD/PSR clearly define both the opportunities and the limitations for wallet-based payment use cases. He emphasized that KYC and customer onboarding represent the most promising and immediately achievable applications, where digital identity wallets can significantly improve efficiency, trust, and user experience.

At the same time, he underlined that Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) remains a complex and demanding use case. Integrating SCA into digital identity wallets requires careful alignment with existing security models to avoid unnecessary disruption to well-established and trusted payment mechanisms. Rather than reinventing payment systems, he advocated for a pragmatic approach that builds on existing payment infrastructures, enabling payment-related functionality within the wallet in an interoperable and scalable manner.

Alain Martin also pointed to the potential of digital identity wallets to enrich payment data exchanged with merchants, improving transparency and supporting more informed transactions, while respecting data protection and privacy principles. His contribution reinforced the need for realism, regulatory clarity, and close cooperation between public authorities, financial institutions, and technology providers.

The roundtable featured a diverse panel of experts, including representatives from digital identity authorities, tax administrations, data governance bodies, and financial institutions across Africa and Europe. Together, they examined governance models and technical architectures capable of supporting cross-sector and cross-border interoperability, while balancing national sovereignty with the need for global collaboration.

Overall, the session underscored that digital ID wallets are not merely technical solutions, but foundational components of future digital ecosystems. Unlocking their full potential will require a step-by-step approach, grounded in trust, interoperability, and sustained public–private cooperation.