Portugal digital business wallet aims to simplify administration for companies

Portugal has become the first EU nation to introduce a version of the European Business Wallet (EWB) for companies. A government release says the wallet “centralises in a single digital channel all of a company’s official documents in a secure and updated way.”

It is intended as a “simplification instrument” to cut administrative barriers to EU-wide expansion that discourage innovation and investment. It is expected to be particularly relevant for firms providing services rather than physical goods, and companies looking to expand activity in the EU’s public sector.

The business wallet aims to house all of a company’s documents in a single, secure and compliant platform integrated in the gov.pt app. For the first phase of rollout, this will include electronic company cards, tax status declaration, Social Security standing, and central register of effective beneficiary. More documents will be added over coming months, with a target of summer to allow companies to access all the files required to sell to public authorities across Europe and open bank accounts.

Minister of State Reform Gonçalo Saraiva Matias is in charge of the digital business wallet file. In comments to Euractiv, he says one of the major advantages of the app is automated updates. “If you need to renew the document every 90 days, the wallet will do it automatically.”

Matias says the app “gives time back to entrepreneurs” who have been smothered by red tape. The basic version is free, but companies will be charged for services public bodies already charge for, and for unspecified “advanced functionalities.”

The launch is part of Portugal’s larger state reform, including a push to digitize and compete in the evolving European and global marketplaces, improve interoperability and allow for “agile responses to administrative and legal requirements from licensing procedures to bidding in public tenders.”

In comments from a launch ceremony in Porto, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro says the country needs “ambition, confidence and transformative capability” to remain a leader among EU nations.

Estonia doesn’t want to remake system to fit new EU model

Portugal’s positioning as a European leader on digitizing government services is not sitting well with Estonia, which appears to consider it redundant. Per Euractiv, the nation’s digital minister has attacked Portugal’s digital business wallet project, “saying it will cost hundreds of millions of euros while duplicating existing systems.”

In effect, Estonia – which has long been the most digitized nation in Europe – does not want to have to undo progress it has made to fit the EU mold.

Matias says he is “totally available” to collaborate with other countries on their national solutions.

Both Portugal and Estonia offer e-residency for digital nomads.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  European Business Wallet  |  KYB  |  Portugal