EUDI Wallet: only just over half of Germans have heard of it, three months before launch
An IDnow study published on 8 September 2026 shows: 52 per cent of Germans know the European identity wallet, 48 per cent abandon a process if verification becomes too cumbersome. 64 per cent would be more likely to use the wallet if individual details such as age could be confirmed without the rest of the data.
What happened
The identity service provider IDnow published a consumer survey on the European identity wallet on 8 September 2026. In June 2026, the Sapio Research institute surveyed 1,000 adults in Germany between 18 and 80 years of age. The result: 52 per cent have heard of the EUDI Wallet at all, even though the launch is scheduled for December 2026 according to IDnow. 48 per cent of respondents abandon a process if the identity check becomes too complicated or too drawn out. Asked whom they would trust to manage their digital identity, 26 per cent name German banks and 12 per cent large technology corporations. 64 per cent would be more likely to use the wallet if individual details — age, for instance — could be confirmed without disclosing the complete data set. The study was commissioned by a provider of identity checks, and that belongs in the assessment.
Who is affected
Online merchants with age limits (alcohol, tobacco, weapons, games, adult content, financial products), landlords and rental businesses, mobile and energy providers with contracts concluded online, plus every bricks-and-mortar merchant who still inspects ID documents today. And everyone who lets accounts or contracts be opened digitally.
Assessment
The 48 per cent figure is the only number in the study a merchant can translate directly into money. Almost every second customer drops out when the identity check stalls — that is not a data protection debate, that is an abandonment rate. Anyone who has ID upload, a video call or a selfie check in the ordering process knows that break from their own funnel.
The interesting part is selective disclosure: confirming only what is needed, so of age yes or no instead of name, date of birth and address. That is doubly good for merchants — a shorter process and less personal data to store, protect and, in case of doubt, report. Even so, I do not expect the wallet to suddenly appear in the checkout in December. Infrastructure like this enters the market through mandatory processes, not through enthusiasm, and 52 per cent awareness means the merchant has to do the explaining, not the customer. Anyone who builds the route early avoids a rebuild later.
What to do now
- Measure in your own shop or contract process how many users are lost between the start and the completion of the identity or age check. Without that figure, every wallet discussion is theory.
- Ask your identity or payment service provider whether and when it will accept EUDI Wallet credentials and whether selective attribute requests (age only) are supported.
- Check which data you collect today purely out of habit. Anything not needed for the contract costs conversion and creates liability.