Germany is preparing to launch its state-backed digital wallet d-you on January 2, 2027. The app will bring digital identity documents and other credentials together on a smartphone, with the identity card, driving licence and health insurance card among the planned documents.
Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) presented the name, logo and first partners for the implementation of the digital wallet on Wednesday. In the longer term, many more documents are expected to be stored on the platform, including a university certificate, payslip or customer card. The digital association Bitkom is hoping the service will provide a “strong boost” to digitalisation in Germany.
“With d-you, we are developing a digital application that offers real added value, puts people at the centre and creates trust,” Wildberger said. “An ecosystem is emerging around d-you that enables new applications, more innovative business models and more efficient administrative services.”
d-you is designed to let people store digital identity documents and other credentials securely on their smartphone and use them when they need to prove who they are or provide specific information. It can be used to identify themselves to public authorities and companies, while businesses and organisations can issue digital credentials through the wallet.
At launch, applications will allow users to prove their age, conclude legally valid contracts and open a bank account. The platform is intended to expand over time to include more documents and services.
With the d-you app, the Digital Ministry is implementing an EU regulation requiring the 27 member states to create the possibility of a digital wallet, known as the EUDI Wallet, by the end of the year. EUDI stands for European Digital Identity. According to Wildberger, the service is intended to be significantly expanded and opened not only to authorities but also to companies.
The first list of 40 partner companies and organisations that, according to the Digital Ministry, plan to launch their own applications for the wallet on January 2 is broad-ranging.
The partners include authorities such as the Federal Employment Agency and the German Pension Insurance, as well as companies such as Deutsche Post, Vodafone and Rossmann. Several universities, districts and city administrations and the Hamburg Transport Association are also included. The official list also includes organisations such as KfW, the Federal Printing Office, DATEV and the Technical University of Munich.
The interest among companies is reportedly even greater. Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said that 170 companies had so far committed, through a Memorandum of Understanding initiated by Bitkom and the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs, to use the technology in their own services.
Bitkom hopes the digital wallet will provide a “strong boost” to digitalisation in Germany because digital services will become “much easier for people to use” with the app. “The digital wallet must become a daily standard, just as we know it, for example, from electronic payments,” Wintergerst said. “Above all, this requires many use cases that offer real added value.”
According to a survey published by Bitkom in the spring, there is strong interest among citizens in using digital documents. Many people want to carry their identity card, driving licence and similar documents digitally in the future. The option of signing contracts and forms digitally also attracted interest, according to the survey.
The use of the EUDI Wallet will be voluntary and free of charge, according to the Digital Ministry. The application is designed to meet high security and data-protection standards, with data stored in encrypted form on the user’s device. It is based on common EU technical standards and is intended to be usable across Europe in the future.
Security is also a major concern for consumers. Online service provider IDnow published a survey this week showing that security is crucial when using the service. A large proportion of respondents expressed concerns about hacking or data theft, fraudulent use of the digital wallet, or the possibility that companies could use it to collect too much data.
There therefore needs to be “transparent control” and “independent oversight,” IDnow said. The government plans to develop d-you gradually, with additional functions and digital credentials to be added after its January 2027 launch.
Watch our video to learn how Germany’s new d-you digital wallet will bring digital identity and documents to smartphones from 2027.
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