At TRUSTECH 2025 exhibition, the conference “Digital wallets and beyond: data orchestration, KYC and payment” brought together public decision-makers and industry representatives around a central issue: the convergence between digital identity, regulatory compliance and digital payments.

Chaired by Guy DE FELCOURT, the round table gathered:

  • Giuseppe DE MARCO (Department for Digital Transformation, Italy)
  • Peter KIMAILE (African Committee of Experts on Digital Identity)
  • Alain MARTIN (Smart Payment Association)
  • Sekou MAHAWA TOURE (ANAFIC, Guinea)
  • Marianne HENRIKSEN (Norwegian Tax Administration)

 

One observation emerges: the digital wallet goes beyond the simple storage of identifiers. It becomes a structuring tool for data orchestration, serving citizens, administrations and financial stakeholders.

Giuseppe DE MARCO speaking at TRUSTECH 2025, holding an award in his hands.

Building an Open and Scalable Digital Identity Infrastructure

Giuseppe DE MARCO opened the discussion by recalling that Italy is deploying its national digital wallet in a constantly evolving European digital identity framework.

More than seven million active users are currently using the Italian solution, but the issue goes far beyond adoption.

“We are working within a framework that is not fully stabilised”. Giuseppe DE MARCO underlined the need for continuous adaptation to European orientations, particularly in terms of digital identity.

The wallet does not replace existing systems: it relies on them. The initial authentication of the citizen remains essential in order to activate the wallet.

The approach advocated is based on an open infrastructure. It allows the registration of other wallet providers and the integration of different credential issuers. This distinction between credentials of public interest and private attestations structures the model.

The wallet thus becomes an orchestration framework for personal information. It organises the secure presentation of digital proofs, without calling into question the national identification mechanisms already in place.

Financial Inclusion, Interoperability and Governance: the African Dynamic

Peter KIMAILE’s contribution illustrated another trajectory, marked by financial inclusion and mobile innovation.

Kenya has 54 million registered users of mobile payment services, with a significant impact on rural populations and SMEs. The widespread use of mobile has transformed economic practices, including for the least advantaged citizens.

 

At continental level, the African Committee of Experts on Digital Identity is working on the development of an interoperability framework between Member States.

The objective is to facilitate wallet-to-wallet transactions, bank-to-wallet operations and cross-border transfers. “It is not only about technology, but also about strengthening cybersecurity and legal frameworks,” he emphasised.

Regional economic blocs are moving towards legislative and technical harmonisation in order to secure exchanges.

 

In the same spirit, Sekou MAHAWA TOURE recalled that digitalisation is also a matter of local governance.

In Guinea, the modernisation of local authority financing mechanisms relies on better traceability of resources and the structuring of identification systems.

Interoperability appears here as a lever for budgetary efficiency and administrative transparency.

Round table at TRUSTECH 2025 featuring several speakers on stage talking about digital ID wallets, data orchestration, KYC, and paymentsTRUSTECH 2025 ID roundtable on digital identity wallets, data orchestration, KYC and payments

Payment, Remote KYC (Know Your Customer) and Regulatory Compliance: Towards Convergences?

From the industry perspective, Alain MARTIN focused on financial use cases. The first lever identified is remote KYC, or Know Your Customer, a remote identity verification process.

Faced with impersonation risks amplified by AI (artificial intelligence), a high-assurance identity wallet could secure customer onboarding.

 

With regard to Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), required by the European directive PSD2, the regulation provides that if a customer requests to use their wallet to authenticate with their bank, the bank must accept it.

However, compliance challenges remain, particularly concerning the ability to sign financial transaction details in accordance with regulatory requirements.

 

Finally, regarding payment itself, the position expressed is pragmatic: “Do not reinvent the wheel”. Rather than creating a new instrument, the idea would be to integrate existing payment methods into the wallet.

The combination of identity data and payment capabilities could ultimately make it possible to automatically transmit certain verified information. For example student status or proof of age during a transaction.

These prospects are promising, but they require the evolution of acceptance infrastructures and close coordination between public and private stakeholders.

 

The discussions showed that the digital wallet ecosystem now constitutes a strategic building block at the crossroads of identity, payment and regulatory compliance.
Whether in relation to emerging European frameworks, African interoperability dynamics or industrial security requirements, the same imperative prevails: to organise digital trust in a coherent and interoperable manner.
Beyond technology, a governance architecture is taking shape. The success of digital wallets will depend on the ability of ecosystems to align standards, regulations and concrete use cases, in order to make the wallet a genuine data orchestration tool serving citizens and markets.

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