EUDI Wallet crucial for the financial sector, Visa exec tells Money20/20

As a trusted means of identity verification, the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet is a “present on a silver platter” for financial institutions on the continent, according to Visa.

The payment company’s Head of Digital Identity Marie Austenaa believes that the digital ID system will significantly simplify establishing cross-border bank accounts for people. Looking ahead, financial institutions may be able to verify transactions using the electronic ID credentials housed in a customer’s digital wallet, instead of depending on their own proprietary applications.

“It’s an opportunity to decouple identity from the bank itself,” she says. “The identification process can be carried out by an accredited third party, but the bank will still receive verified proof – secure, standardized, and interoperable.”

European Union regulations mandate the use of EUDI wallets for payment authentication, establishing clear compliance requirements for banking institutions. However, the technology’s applications extend far beyond payments, encompassing IBAN verification, income proof validation and fraud prevention measures.

Austenaa shared her views at the Money20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam earlier this week, industry news outlet Payments, Cards and Mobile reports.

Visa has been actively testing the EUDI Wallet through Large Scale Pilot projects as part of the EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC). The consortium brings together technology partners, including Google, Digidentity, Lissi and Bank ID, along with European business registers and multiple banking institutions.

“We’ve already completed a live payment using the Wallet for authentication – it works,” says Austenaa. “But adapting existing infrastructure, like the Access Control Server, is not trivial. We were fortunate to work with a flexible bank. Not all will move that quickly.”

EWC tests cross-border payments and account opening

During the European Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC) 2025 in May, Austenaa provided detailed insights into the pilot program’s technical challenges. A key focus area involved enabling cross-border payment authentication through the EUDI wallet.

“The solution that we’ve come up with is the creation of a specific authentication attestation that is issued by the bank,” she says. “It can be done by an intermediary, to keep things simple as well, but it’s issued by the bank into the wallet and improves the link between the wallet holder and the account holder for the bank. And it’s an attestation that gives banks the ability to manage the life cycle of this attestation.”

The EWC envisions the EUDI Wallet holding a range of attestations and digital proofs, including a business or a natural person identity, power of attorney for a consumer or natural person, an account number, payment cards and more.

“In the next phase is the ability to open a bank account for a business within another country. This is a very complicated and difficult process,” the executive says.

The EWC explored combining Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures with business register data to meet Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements imposed by foreign banks. A technical pilot involving the Netherlands, Finland, and Germany tested how company representatives could utilize the EUDI Wallet to establish business accounts in foreign jurisdictions.

“There’s more work to be done, but that’s a really good start,” she says.

Article Topics

banking  |  digital payments  |  digital wallets  |  EU  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC)  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  Visa