Digital identity wallets to reach 1.5B by 2029: Goode Intelligence report

By the year 2029, there will be 1.5 billion digital identity wallets held by people around the world, storing approximately 30 percent of all digital identities, according to the latest report from Goode Intelligence.

“The Digital Identity Report – The Global Opportunity for Verified Citizen & Consumer ID” analyzes the market for both government and private sector-issued digital identity, and highlights the use of biometrics, digital wallets, Verifiable Credentials (VCs) and public-key cryptography as technology pillars underlying the market.

“By the end of this decade, it is safe to say that our proof of identity will be largely digitised with over 4.9 billion digital identities in use by 2029,” says Goode Intelligence Founder and CEO Alan Goode in the announcement. “Like cash, it will not mean the end of paper and plastic identities. These will still be issued and used when we cross a border or have to provide proof of permission to drive a motor vehicle, or where regulation requires a paper document for verification.”

The report examines mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs), travel identities, and national IDs, as well as IDs for the financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, employment and other sectors over the short, medium and longer term.

Goode notes in an email to Biometric Update that biometrics are connected to the other key digital identity trends through the identity verification process used to establish digital wallets and guarding them against unauthorized access.

Responding to a question about what businesses need to improve on, Goode says: “Businesses need to take a pragmatic approach to digital identity starting with a vision and then deployed with short-to-medium term goals leading to longer-term goals to achieve that vision. Digital identity wallets and verifiable credentials could well be the long-term vision for a business but, due to interoperability issues and a trust in new decentralized identity models and standards, it may well be prudent to look at more established standards such as ISO 18013-5 (mDL) and IACO’s DTC for satisfy the needs of short-to-medium term goals. Businesses also need to be pragmatic in matching real business needs with technology capability that can scale and is affordable.”

The market has fundamentally shifted in different ways since the first version of the report came out in 2019, Goode says. COVID-19 accelerated a trend towards reusable, digital proof of identity and credential claims becoming a necessity. The initial report forecast 3 billion digital IDs would be issued by 2025.

The 272-page report also includes interviews with leaders from FaceTec, iProov, Thales DIS and other prominent digital identity providers.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  Goode Intelligence  |  ISO 18013-5  |  market report  |  verifiable credentials