Luxembourg to launch e-wallets early next year

Identification in the Grand Duchy is about to go digital

Better late than never. That’s the takeaway from the Luxembourgish Ministry for Digitalisation’s announcement that it plans to allow the usage of e-wallets sometime during the first quarter of 2024 – a year after the pioneering move was supposed to have happened.

In fact, the step which grants citizens the ability to carry their ID cards and driver’s licenses on their phones is only one of more than 400 digitisation projects meant to modernize public services and administration in the Grand Duchy, as part of a coalition agreement between the partners of the recently formed government.

Official documents are moving to the phones in the EU

In fact, this development option awaits all residents of EU member states after, at the beginning of this month, the EU Parliament and Council reached an agreement to mandate the introduction of the EU Digital Identity Wallet within two years.

In addition to securely storing their digital identity, the Wallet will allow users to open bank accounts, make payments and hold digital documents, such as a mobile Driving Licence, a medical prescription, a professional certificate or a travel ticket. The Wallet will offer a user-friendly and practical alternative to online identification guaranteed by EU law," an official statement says.

And the Digital Wallet will not only be accepted by the public sector but also by the private sector when doing online shopping.

There will be a ledger recording and keeping all transactions made by a person, which gives anyone the possibility to report violations of data protection - plus there won’t be any need to collect receipts for tax purposes.

Some French regions, such as Hauts-de-Seine, Eure-et-Loir, are already experimenting with the use of e-wallets, however, users still can’t use those to identify themselves to the police there.