Europe’s future of digital identity and payments will be connected but not merged, says Claire Deprez-Pipon, Digital Identity Lead at the European Payments Initiative (EPI). Real progress will depend not on building a ‘super app’ that handles both identity and payments, but on creating seamless interoperability between the two, allowing citizens to move effortlessly between authentication and payment while maintaining security, trust, and choice.
Claire leads the development of EPI’s digital identity strategy for Wero, the pan-European payment solution. Her mission is to understand how the upcoming EUDI Wallet will impact payment flows, ensure regulatory compliance, and explore business opportunities at the intersection of identity and payments.
Bringing identity and payments together
A convergence between digital identity and payment systems could transform how Europeans prove who they are and pay online. One of the simplest use cases is strong customer authentication, where a payment is approved through a verified digital identity. But Claire sees more potential: “Imagine buying alcohol and confirming in the same step that you’re over 18, without sharing your birth date, or booking a hotel and instantly sharing verified identity data along with the payment. It would make transactions faster, safer, and cheaper.”
Still, she warns that merging payment and identity wallets entirely would be complex and politically sensitive. Some member states, such as France, want to keep them separate, while others – like Poland or Italy – allow limited payment functions, such as paying taxes, within the identity wallet. “Identity and payments are two different worlds,” Claire points out. “Instead of one big wallet, we should focus on making it easy to move between the two.”
Learning from payments infrastructure
Banks and fintechs will be critical to making the EUDI Wallet succeed. As Relying Parties, they’ll use it to verify users during onboarding or authentication, replacing costly manual checks or video calls. “For banks, this means big cost savings and a smoother user experience,” Claire says. The same logic applies across industries, from telecoms to e-commerce – wherever identity proofing is needed.
Claire also highlights that payments have evolved through decades of coordination between banks, acquirers, PSPs, and merchants: a process that can’t simply be reinvented. Even a small technical change can ripple through the entire ecosystem. “We learned this with PSD2,” she notes. “It took years to align everyone and achieve a good user experience. We shouldn’t repeat that mistake.”
At the same time, regulation remains a moving target. While eIDAS 2 introduces “strong user authentication,” PSD2 still mandates “strong customer authentication” – a subtle but important distinction. Future clarity is expected through the Payment Services Regulation (PSR) and ongoing large-scale pilots like EWC and NobID, which are working with the European Commission on a unified payment authentication framework.
Adoption, trust, and the human factor
The European Commission’s goal is for 80% of EU citizens to use the EUDI Wallet within five years. This is ambitious but achievable, Claire thinks – if the ecosystem delivers value. “People won’t adopt the wallet just to store their digital ID,” she says. “They need real services: payments, onboarding, access to public and private platforms.” She points to Belgium’s itsme and the Nordics’ BankID as models: their adoption soared past 80% once payments were integrated.
Claire believes adoption will follow a similar curve to mobile payments: slow at first, as people get familiar with the technology and trust it, then accelerating rapidly once more services and relying parties (banks, merchants, public agencies) start supporting it. This pattern reflects the Innovation Adoption Life Cycle, where early adopters and tech enthusiasts pave the way, followed by a ‘tipping point’ when the early majority embraces the technology – turning it from a niche innovation into a mainstream necessity. Once that critical mass is reached, usage tends to grow exponentially as late adopters follow social and practical momentum.
Still, trust remains a major hurdle. In some countries, citizens fear that a digital wallet will give governments too much control. Switzerland’s narrow referendum approval earlier this year underlines that tension. “Some people are still afraid of ‘Big Brother,’” she says. “We need to show them it’s the opposite: the wallet gives them control over their own data.”
The path ahead
Claire doesn’t believe in a single ‘super app’ for Europe. Instead, she envisions two interoperable systems that feel unified from the user’s perspective. “If switching between identity and payment apps is seamless, people won’t notice the difference,” she says. “That’s the goal: to make it feel like one experience, while keeping both worlds secure and independent.”
