Munich – September 11, 2026 -- Only 52% of consumers in Germany and France are aware of the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, according to a new consumer study by IDnow, just months before the technology's mandated December 2026 rollout. The digital identity and fraud prevention platform surveyed 1,000 adults in each country and found that trust, not speed, will determine adoption.
Nearly half of consumers abandon transactions over complex verification
48% of respondents said they frequently abandon transactions when identity verification is too complicated or takes too long, exposing a commercial cost that financial institutions already absorb today. IDnow argues this friction creates both the market opportunity and the credibility hurdle the EUDI Wallet must clear.
Fraud protection outranks convenience as the top adoption driver
42% of respondents named better fraud protection as the most important factor for using the wallet, ahead of data control (31%), transparency over data usage (30%), and faster or simpler processes (28%). Security concerns dominate over convenience in shaping consumer willingness to adopt the new credential.
Consumers accept added friction if it improves security
42% of German respondents said they would tolerate additional identity checks if they increase security, even if the process takes longer. Only 15% said they would accept fewer controls in exchange for reduced friction despite a higher fraud risk, indicating limited consumer appetite for trading safety for speed.
Selective disclosure could sway nearly two-thirds of German users
64% of German consumers said they would be more likely to use the EUDI Wallet if it let them confirm specific attributes, such as age, without disclosing full personal data. This selective-disclosure model shares only the information required for a given transaction, a feature IDnow identifies as central to closing the current trust gap.
No single verification method dominates consumer preference
Asked how they would prefer to verify their identity when opening a bank account, German consumers split across methods: 26% prefer in-person verification, 16% an NFC chip scan, 13% a digital identity wallet, 13% a video call with a staff member, and 10% submitting an ID with a selfie. IDnow says this fragmentation means banks will need to support multiple verification tiers rather than replace existing methods outright, a capability it says its recently launched IDnow Trust Platform is built to address.
Regulatory deadlines set a fixed timeline for banks and member states
EU member states must make the EUDI Wallet available to citizens by December 2026, and banks are required to accept it by December 2027. Philippe Morel, CEO of IDnow, said consumers understand the problems the wallet is designed to solve — rising identity fraud, ineffective online verification, and the risks of oversharing data — but remain unconvinced it is the right solution, calling this the gap the technology must close.
The study, titled "The Identity Gap,