E-Boks integration of Dewa digital wallet SDK gives digital identity to 5.3M Danes

Approximately 5.3 million Danes have received a digital identity after Denmark’s secure digital mailbox service, e-Boks, launched a digital ID wallet with the help of identity infrastructure company Dewa.​

The Copenhagen-based startup provides its digital wallet capability through an SDK. e-Boks integrated the iOS and Android SDKs from Dewa, and then customized the integration and brought the digital ID wallet to a production launch in just 42 days, allowing the platform’s users to prove their identity both online and offline, according to the firm. The wallet will function similarly to Denmark’s national digital identity, MitID, and is compliant with eIDAS 2.0 and the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet regulation.

“This is one of the largest EUDI-aligned private wallet deployments in Europe,” Dewa said in an announcement last week.​

E-Boks has been around since 2001 and is used by government, banks and insurance companies to send electronic documents such as tax notices, payslips and bank statements to both residents and businesses. Its new e-Wallet enables businesses and institutions to verify users’ identities, supporting different digital ID credentials, such as proof of age, student ID cards and membership cards.

In addition to the wallet, the duo is also launching services for issuing and verifying digital credentials. Dewa says it has already issued 180 million credentials.

E-Boks has already announced a pilot of its digital student cards at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and is eyeing expansion of its digital ID into other European markets.

“This solution will undoubtedly open new markets for us both within and beyond the EU,” CEO of e-Boks Ulrik Falkner Thagesen said last year while announcing the project. “Many countries lack an official and verified digital login system like Denmark’s MitID. Our digital identity wallet can fill this gap – not only by storing certificates and documents but also by providing a secure, standardized way to access digital services across borders.”

In October last year, Dewa and e-Boks announced they would be joining the Norwegian digital wallet sandbox, led by the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir). Their key focus during the testing will be on integrating verifiable credentials, such as digital IDs, age verifications, and academic certificates, into e-Boks’ secure communication channels.

The two companies will also attempt to demonstrate that the “combination of a digital wallet with a secure communication channel expands the value proposition far beyond what a wallet alone can offer.” A central, secure credential distribution channel can enhance overall user experience, security and service reach.

Dewa’s plans to go from digital ID wallets to business wallets

Dewa integrated the wallet as a white-label SDK directly into e-Boks’ existing iOS and Android applications. This meant that the process took just 3-5 weeks instead of the 18 months it takes to build a solution from scratch, the firm explains.

Identity credentials are stored on-device with hardware security, while the wallet offers zero-knowledge age verification: It proves a user is over the age of 18, without revealing date of birth, name or other personal data.

Dewa believes the same approach could be applied to European Business Wallets, which will, in the future, serve legal persons. The infrastructure that was used to deploy a digital ID to 5.3 million e-Boks users in Denmark could also be used for business wallets.

“The technical foundation is identical to consumer wallets,” the firm says in a blog post. “A Legal Person Identification Document (LPID) is structured the same way as a Personal Identification Document (PID).”

Business wallets would, of course, have some differences: Instead of age certificates and diplomas, it would have mandates, powers of attorney, UBO attestations, and compliance certificates. Identities would be issued by business registers and chambers of commerce instead of national ID agencies. Finally, business wallets also must offer delegation, allowing a company to authorize individuals to act on its behalf, the firm notes.

Article Topics

Denmark  |  Dewa  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  e-Boks  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  European Business Wallet