Bosnia is leapfrogging neighbors with digital ID wallet launch: Identyum CEO

The European digital identity project is rippling beyond its borders into neighboring countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Balkan country will soon launch its first national digital ID wallet, putting it on course to advance past some of the more developed EU states in digital infrastructure, according to the wallet’s creator Identyum.

“What is special about this project is that these will be the identity wallets that the EU envisioned with the eEIDAS 2.0 regulation, allowing Bosnia to technologically leapfrog several phases of development,” Identyum CEO Robert Ilijaš told Biometric Update in a recent interview.

European countries have gone through two stages of electronic identity, including NFC-enabled physical ID cards used with smartcard readers and mobile applications: “Digital wallets are the third stage,” adds Ilijaš.

Bosnian citizens are expected to gain access to the Identyum ID wallet in the first half of 2025.  Users will be able to download a mobile application, tap their physical identity card on their mobile phone and conduct a biometric liveness check.

Aside from identity, the digital ID will store other credentials such as driver’s licenses and diplomas and sign digital documents. Sharing data will be under the control of the user.

The country, however, will still need to digitize most of its private and public services and make them accessible through the app. Identyum sees the project as building an informational highway for the country.

“The same way a highway is necessary to spark the economy, digital identities are necessary to spark the digital economy,” says Ilijaš.

The agency in charge of the pilot is IDDEEA (Agency for Identification Documents, Registers, and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina) while the project is funded by Europe’s EU4DigitalSME fund and the government of Germany.

A part of Europe’s interest in Bosnia is bringing more stability to the traditionally politically volatile region. The country is currently a candidate for EU accession while the bloc is the country’s largest provider of financial assistance. In May, it joined the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), gaining access to a 7.5 billion euro (US$8.1 billion) program designed to boost digitalization.

Infrastructure, including digital development, has been one of the EU’s tools to bring the country closer to its western neighbors.

“Our project is just one tiny cog in preparing Bosnia to be more technologically similar to the EU,” says Ilijaš

Creating the infrastructure for Bosnia’s national ID wallet and its 3.2 million citizens is Identyum’s first business-to-government (B2G). The Croatia-based company relied on its experience in developing digital wallets and offering remote identification, digital signatures, know your customer (KYC) and PSD2 checks for the private sector, including banking, finance and tourism. Some of its clients include European fintech Multitude, Kent Bank, Raiffeisen Bank and Croatian tourism company Valamar.

“We believe that biometrics are the next big thing and that the passwordless segment should be based on biometrics instead of device ownership in the future,” says Ilijaš

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Bosnia and Herzegovina  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  EU  |  EU4Digital  |  government services  |  Identity and Data Exchange Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDDEEA)  |  Identyum