Munich – September 11, 2026 -- Nearly half of consumers in France and Germany, 46%, abandon a transaction when identity verification is too complex or slow, according to a new survey from IDnow published ahead of the EU Digital Identity Wallet's scheduled December 2026 rollout.
The EUDI Wallet Consumer Survey, conducted by Sapio Research in June 2026 among 2,000 adults aged 18-80 (1,000 in France, 1,000 in Germany), found that awareness of the incoming digital identity system remains low while friction in current onboarding processes is already costing financial services providers customers.
Security concerns outweigh speed as the top adoption driver
Of respondents, 40% cited better fraud protection as the most important factor for adopting the EUDI Wallet, ahead of greater control over data disclosure (31%), transparency and data tracking (29%), and faster processes (28%). Consumers are largely willing to trade speed for security: 47% said they would accept additional checks if these improved security, even at the cost of a longer process, while only 13% would prefer fewer checks if fraud risk increased.
Selective disclosure emerges as the wallet's core selling point
63% of respondents said they would be more likely to use the EUDI Wallet if it let them confirm specific details, such as age, without disclosing their full identity. IDnow frames this "selective disclosure" capability as the wallet's central value proposition for driving uptake.
Adoption timeline stretches beyond the December 2026 deadline
EU member states must make the EUDI Wallet available to all citizens by December 2026, with banks required to accept it by December 2027. Yet consumer preferences for identity verification when opening a bank account remain fragmented: 24% favor in-person verification, 14% a digital identity wallet, 13% NFC chip scanning, 11% ID-plus-selfie submission, and 10% video calls with an agent.
"European consumers understand the problem that the EUDI Wallet is designed to solve, but they have not yet been convinced that this is the solution,