Trinsic maps top global markets for reusable digital identity in 2026

Trinsic has released its 2026 Digital ID Opportunity Zones report, ranking countries by the maturity and commercial usability of their digital identity ecosystems.

The report is aimed at companies seeking to accept reusable digital identities instead of requiring users to complete traditional document scans during onboarding and verification.

Drawing on a database of more than 300 digital identity schemes worldwide, Trinsic evaluated markets based on adoption rates, assurance levels, private-sector usability, user experience and regulation.

The “Digital ID Opportunity Zones in 2026” ebook presents a selection of countries that have been analyzed and ranked into three colours: green, yellow and red. Green-zone countries are those Trinsic recommends as strong markets for digital identity adoption and integration.

Yellow-zone markets present stronger adoption potential but greater regulatory or operational complexity, according to Trinsic. Red countries: “we would caution you against starting with these geographies,” Trinsic says.

Several countries shifted categories between the 2025 and 2026 rankings. The Philippines, for example, has dropped out of the green zone into the yellow zone for this year. Meanwhile, Italy has been upgraded into the green zone opportunity, alongside entirely new entrants. A couple of higher-friction markets have also moved into yellow for 2026, namely the UAE and Singapore.

Green zone countries for 2026 are the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Brazil, India and Italy, with the new entrants being Korea and Nigeria. Yellow opportunity zone geographies are the U.S., France, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, Indonesia, the UAE, Japan, Poland and the Philippines. Finally, Germany, Spain, Ethiopia and Canada get the red zone.

In a Digital ID Opportunity Zones 2026 webinar presented by Trinsic’s director of product partnerships Zachary Jones and customer success manager Zoe Olavarreita, the pair went through the countries and zones laid out in the company’s ebook. They clarified that digital IDs refer across eIDs, reusable IDs such as private sector ones from Yoti and Clear, and BankID.

Green zones are high-opportunity markets

The Netherlands is one of the easier markets for international markets to enter, Olavarreita said, since it does not require a local legal entity, only compliance with GDPR. Denmark’s MitID digital ID system has close to universal adoption with 98 percent of Danes over age 15 having it. And it is a “very reliable” market within its parameters of requiring international firms to have a legal entity in the EU and a reason for needing to verify.

Meanwhile, the Baltics states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have mature digital identity markets with all three governments actively supporting private sector adoption and is therefore an “extremely low friction place to start.”

Italy has 41 million SPID digital IDs covering 83 percent of the relevant population although there are significant technical and legal hurdles for businesses to clear to register as a service provider. The approval process is “time consuming” but Trinsic is sensing business opportunities in the EU member and lists Italy among the green zone countries. Italy is in the process of moving to the electronic ID card (CIE).

Brazil and India have large populations with their respective digital IDs enjoying high adoption rates. Brazil has almost universal adoption of the CPF number and increasing adoption of other digital IDs like the digital driving license CNH, which has more than 60 million users.

Korea’s digital ID environment is centered around its telcos and covers around 90 percent of the adult population. Telco-based identity verification is baked into its digital ecosystem and the Korean private sector, such as banks and ecommerce, is integrated with this system. There are strict regulations around data processing and consent with many international companies working with local partners for compliance.

Yellows show more regulatory complexity

Jones then took over and went into the yellow zone countries, noting that while green-zone countries have minimal barriers, high adoption rates, good user experience, yellows might have more complexity or variability with more to consider.

For example, while Sweden and Norway share high adoption and good user experience, it’s placed in the yellow zone because identity switching is a challenge. There are limitations to the login potential of BankID, which is the digital ID system used in these Scandinavian countries. The UAE and Singapore present regulatory challenges as they require a local legal entity. For the Philippines, registration for digital ID is high but adoption is harder to measure, Jones said.

The U.S. remains in the yellow zone because digital ID adoption for all of the mobile driver’s licenses issued so far, as well as private sector reusable IDs, represent about 38 percent of the adult population, or roughly 100 million people. The U.S. market remains fragmentary with variance in assurance levels. However, there is regulatory openness and the user experience is “very strong,” according to Trinsic.

Japan is a rather unique case in that its primary form of digital ID is the My Number Card, which requires a PIN and the user to scan the NFC chip in the card. While there is a fully digitalized version for iOS users, Jones noted that adoption of the iOS version of the My Number Card is less than 10 percent of the population so vendors cannot yet rely on that. Japan has however opened up My Number Card for private app integration in a significant shift.

Red zone countries meanwhile present distinct challenges, large regulatory burdens, relatively low adoption and less than ideal user experience or some combination of the above. Germany’s eID card, for example, has only around 22 percent adoption even as it’s the primary digital ID. Canada’s progress with digital ID is “slow” and Spain’s eID chip card – DNIe – requires a physical card reader and PIN, with DNIe and the digital ID called Cl@ve both used primarily for government services.

Ethiopia is a new entrant in Trinsic’s analysis. The country’s Fayda national digital ID program has enrolled more than 40 million residents and is expanding rapidly. One of the largest biometric identity initiatives on the African continent, Fayda ID is still in its early stages for private sector integration. The government is developing APIs and partnerships while regulations and commercial availability are works in progress. So it’s in the red zone.

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biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  market report  |  reusable digital ID  |  Trinsic