The digital wallet is becoming the key to everything – what the world is currently discussing in Geneva about the future of our digital identity
While electronic identity is often presented to the public as a practical alternative to carrying an ID card in one’s wallet, a much more comprehensive infrastructure is being developed behind the scenes. At the beginning of September, more than 1,500 representatives from governments, international organizations, standardization bodies, technology companies, academia, and civil society met in Geneva for the Global Digital Collaboration Conference 2026 (GDC26).
The focus was on digital identities, wallets, verifiable evidence, payment systems, and the question of how these systems can work together across national and system boundaries.
The meeting is particularly relevant for Switzerland: it is not only the host country. According to the federal government, its upcoming e-ID and the swiyu wallet are based on open standards and an open-source infrastructure, in whose development participants in this international community are also involved.
Michael Schöll from the Federal Office of Justice formulated it unusually clearly at the opening: “Switzerland is building on your work.”
The federal government describes the GDC as a platform where public and private actors work together on the technical and institutional foundations of digital trust. More than 2,500 people registered, and over 1,500 were admitted to participate by the co-organizers. (e-ID)
When identity and payment merge
The program on September 2nd was particularly insightful.
The discussion there went beyond simply storing a digital ID on a smartphone. A separate event focused on how the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) could be used for authentication in card payments and even for initiating such payments.
The Dutch Payments Association explicitly confirmed that the event demonstrated and discussed what would be technically necessary to connect the EUDI Wallet with card payments.
EMVCo – the organization behind key global standards for card payments – also participated. The agenda on September 2nd included the development of a Digital Payment Credential and the question of how the EUDI Wallet could change authentication and checkout.
This shows where technological development is headed: In the future, digital identity can be much more than an electronic identity card.
It can become the infrastructure through which identity verification, age verification, professional qualifications, company data, bank information and payment authorizations are linked.
A wallet for more and more areas of life
Another event, for example, showcased an e-commerce process where proof of age confirmed by a bank can enable age-restricted purchases without the merchant having to store all personal data.
Other events dealt with reusable KYC certificates for financial services and the use of the wallet in banking.
The European Business Wallet is also already being tested in practice. At GDC, applications were demonstrated where companies can use a business wallet to open bank accounts, make payments, and receive electronic receipts.
Interoperability tests are running in parallel between the EUDI Wallet and the planned European Business Wallet.
The crucial factor is therefore not a single function. It is the ability to combine functions.
ID card, proof of age, driver’s license, education, professional qualification, company identity, bank account and payment authorization can technically become components of the same interoperable digital ecosystem.
Switzerland is already building on it.
This is precisely where the conference takes on special significance for Swiss citizens.
Switzerland is working on its own state-run trust infrastructure and the swiyu wallet. The federal government itself states that the state-recognized e-ID should enable residents to prove their identity electronically; the necessary trust infrastructure is operated by the federal government.
According to Schöll, open standards and open-source technologies should be used. But his speech contained another noteworthy point: the GDC should be institutionalized and expanded.
The number of seats for UN member states on the GDC Council is to increase from ten to fifteen. At the same time, fifteen corporate seats will also be established. Ten of these will be reserved for companies that provide substantial funding to the GDC. Schöll also stated that the Gates Foundation will significantly increase its support for travel funding. Until now, the GDC has been primarily funded by the OpenWallet Foundation.
Ultimately, a dedicated Swiss foundation is to be established as the permanent institutional home of the GDC. According to Schöll, its launch is planned to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The crucial question is yet to come.
All of this does not mean that every payment will be linked to an e-ID tomorrow, or that citizens without a digital wallet will be excluded from economic life. That cannot be inferred from the conference.
But the technical infrastructure that could connect previously separate areas of life is already being developed, standardized, and practically tested. And that’s precisely why the political discussion shouldn’t begin only after this infrastructure is fully in place.
Which areas of our lives should be allowed to be connected to a digital identity and wallet infrastructure in the future – and where do clear boundaries need to be drawn?
Because when identity, official documents, professional qualifications, company data and payment transactions can technically converge in an interoperable ecosystem, it is no longer just about replacing the plastic ID card with an app.
It’s about the architecture of digital society.
yogaesoteric
September 19, 2026