Banks Ask EU to Reconsider Inclusion of Payments in EUDIW Legislation

The European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) has the potential to serve as a comprehensive identity gateway, enabling individuals to manage their personal data and decide when and with whom to share it. A single digital ID can store personal credentials, including social, financial, medical, and professional data, as well as contacts and other information.

One suggested use for wallets is for payment, allowing consumers to buy goods or services both online and in-person using the wallet as the payment method.

European banks push back

The European Credit Sector Associations (ECSAs) have expressed concern about the potential disproportionate costs for merchants and service industries that accept card payments under the proposed European Digital Identity Wallet legislation. They are calling on the European Union to re-examine certain clauses that suggest widespread card and payment specifications may have to accept the wallet for strong customer authentication (SCA) on a mandatory basis for payments.

The ECSAs have expressed their approval of the current wallet proposals' broad range of uses, but have reservations about the potential need for significant investment in both the financial sector and acceptance network if payment systems were to be incorporated into the wallet's infrastructure.

The European Banking Federation cautions this could result in merchants and service industries accepting card payments, in compliance with PSD2, incurring disproportionate costs.

Excluding payments from the scope of the Digital Identity Regulation would address the liability concerns faced by banks. The ECSAs claim that the current proposal does not adequately address liability, making it difficult to apply its provisions to payments. The ECSAs are, therefore, urging legislators to exclude payments from the scope of the digital identity regulation.

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