The German government has announced that it will launch an app which will allow citizens to show a digital version of their Personalausweis using their mobile phones.

Germany to introduce digital ID cards available via smartphone

People with German citizenship will soon be able to identify themselves across the EU using a new mobile app, the EUDI-Wallet, the German Interior Ministry has announced.

The app will store a digital version of the German Personalausweis, the ID that all citizens are required to carry from the age of 16, can be used to store official documents and will be linked to a digital version of the cardholder’s signature. 

The app should make everyday administrative tasks more simple, such as filing tax returns, leasing a car, applying for a new job or opening a bank account.

“We want to make sure that citizens can prove their identity with their smartphone in a quick, secure and uncomplicated way,” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser explained, stressing that security and privacy standards would be upheld.

New German ID app expected by 2027

The new system is thanks to an EU policy which has been in the works for over a decade and is currently being piloted at 360 private companies and public authorities across the union, Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine. 

Member states now have until 2027 to introduce an e-wallet system. According to Faeser’s announcement, when the app is first introduced it will only be available to German citizens. By the time the app is available, many more thousands of people are expected to become new citizens under Germany’s recent dual citizenship law.

However, after it has been launched the app’s available functions will be continuously updated and developed, Faeser explained. On top of this, a key principle of the new system is that the eID should be available to ”any EU citizen, resident, or business in the EU who wants to use it”, meaning non-citizens who have temporary or permanent residence could also benefit from the new system in future.

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