Wallet interoperability takes shape as Google’s influence grows

A wave of new partnerships between major tech players is accelerating a multi-wallet digital identity ecosystem, even as critics warn it pushes Europe into a dependency on Google and Apple.

Signicat, TrustTech build reusable identity through private wallets

Signicat has announced a partnership with TrustTech, a digital trust infrastructure company specializing in identity verification, reusable compliance checks and trusted signatures.

A release says the partnership aims to help regulated businesses build reusable identity processes through private wallet ecosystems in compliance with eIDAS 2.0 and the European digital identity wallet ecosystem, by combining Signicat’s digital identity platform capabilities with TrustTech’s trust infrastructure.

Initially, it will focus on financial services, government, healthcare and pharma sectors, offering faster onboarding, passwordless security, and fewer repeated checks across internal systems and partner networks.

“Regulated organizations are dealing with identity across more touchpoints than ever, from customer onboarding to employee access, partner checks and digital signing,” says Thijs Vink, chief of enterprise for Central & Southern Europe at Signicat. “Private wallets give them a practical way to bring those journeys together today, rather than waiting for the wider public wallet ecosystem to mature. By partnering with TrustTech, we can help enterprises create trusted identity experiences that are easier to manage, safer to use and ready to scale across Europe.”

Rens Pennings, chief commercial officer at TrustTech, says “customers, employees and partners should not have to prove who they are again and again, and institutions cannot afford to rebuild trust from scratch every time.”

“By combining TrustTech’s proven reusable trust infrastructure with Signicat’s European scale, we can help regulated enterprises move from one-off verification to reusable identity.”

Authologic, Google partnership responds to digital ID shift

A new partnership between Authologic and Google allows businesses to accept verified identity credentials stored in Google Wallet using the OmniID platform. Support includes Google ID Pass, the digital passport available in various countries around the world, including the U.S. and UK, according to a post announcing the arrangement.

“Google Wallet is already home to verified identity credentials for users across the world,” says Jarek Sygitowicz, chief strategy officer at Authologic. “Our goal has always been to make those credentials accessible to businesses that need them for KYC/AML processes, without requiring a separate integration for every digital wallet or credential type. Our collaboration with Google is a major step toward that.”

The scheme offers selective disclosure and data minimization, with OmniID connecting businesses to a wide range of identity verification methods, including Google Wallet, government eIDs, EUDI wallets, mobile driving licenses, bank-based verification, and biometric checks. Authologic says the platform “automatically selects the most suitable method based on the user’s location and device, while providing fallback options for those who do not yet have a digital credential.”

OneID allows firms to accept credentials housed in Google Wallet for IDV

An announcement from OneID says it will support identity verification using eligible digital credentials presented through Google Wallet, enabling organizations to facilitate identity verification for customer onboarding, age assurance, account access and fraud prevention.

OneID says the move “strengthens its position as a single access point for organisations seeking to verify trusted digital identity information from multiple sources worldwide.”

“The future of digital identity will not be built around a single wallet, provider or technology,” says Karl MacGregor, CEO of OneID. “Consumers will increasingly hold trusted credentials issued by banks, governments, mobile operators and other organisations, stored across multiple wallets and platforms.”

“Supporting Google Wallet is another important step in building that global Digital Verification Access Network. These services are important to underpin the new wave of agentic commerce where identity and trust is at the core of securing payments.”

Two wallets to rule them all?

In practical terms, Google and Apple have become cornerstones of our society’s digital architecture. They dominate mobile devices, operating systems and app stores. And some believe that the way the global wallet ecosystem is developing will ultimately give them more power.

An opinion piece from WAAG Futurelab argues that “European digital ID wallets are a gift to Google and Apple.”

European Digital Identity Wallets (EUDI Wallets), they say, “rely on the safety services of Google and Apple. These are known as Google Play Integrity API, and Apple’s Managed Device Attestation.”

“By embedding these safety services in public infrastructure, Europe risks making society dependent on private companies while serving their corporate interests. In this way, governments effectively become enforcers of a private company’s platform policies. This stands in tension with Europe’s ambition to build digital public infrastructure based on public values such as openness, inclusiveness, and technological sovereignty.”

Wallets are public infrastructure, says the piece, and their architecture should reflect that. “If Europe is serious about digital autonomy, it should rule out Google and Apple attestation entirely from the Architecture Reference Framework and mandate open, hardware-based attestation mechanisms.”

Article Topics

Authologic  |  digital wallets  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  Google Wallet  |  OneID  |  reusable digital ID  |  Signicat  |  TrustTech