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Main Takeaways
Introduction: Framing eIDAS 2.0 as an Opportunity
- This conversation features Jamie Smith, Founder of Customer Futures, and Nick Lambert, CEO of Dock Labs. Nick serves as the host, guiding the discussion, while Jamie, an expert in empowerment technology and digital identity.
- Many organizations approach eIDAS 2.0 with a sense of regulatory burden.
- Jamie Smith advocates for a mindset shift, seeing it as a growth opportunity rather than compliance overhead.
- The conversation will focus on:
- Why digital wallets and AI agents are a game-changer for businesses.
- The evolving customer engagement landscape.
- Practical business growth opportunities.
The Current State of Customer Engagement is Broken
- Customer interactions with businesses are frustratingly complex:
- Example: An email prompts a user to log in to read a "critical message," leading to a cumbersome multi-step verification process.
- The process involves multiple steps: forgotten passwords, email verifications, OTP codes, app downloads, etc.
- The final message turns out to be a trivial privacy policy update—wasting the user's time.
- Organizations are stuck with only four engagement channels:
- Push-based: Email, SMS, notifications (users block or ignore these).
- Pull-based: Websites and apps (require cumbersome logins).
- Phone-based: Call centers (costly, slow, and frustrating).
- In-person: Physical interactions (not scalable).
- Customers deal with 150+ service providers across banks, retailers, utilities, healthcare, etc.
- Each has its own digital transformation efforts, making engagement even more fragmented.
Why Digital Wallets and AI Agents Are a Breakthrough
- Digital wallets provide a new trusted endpoint for customers:
- Portable, private, secure, and user-controlled.
- Removes the friction of logging into multiple services.
- Allows businesses to trust a customer’s identity outside their firewall.
- The opportunity isn’t just about identity—it’s about a new engagement channel:
- Instead of pushing messages or forcing users into apps, wallets can enable seamless, secure transactions.
- Organizations can interact with customers without forcing them through tedious verification steps.
The Travel Industry as a Case Study for Digital Wallets
- Travel is an example of fragmented customer journeys:
- Research: Google, Airbnb, Tripadvisor.
- Booking: Airline sites, OTAs, hotel websites.
- Check-in: Airline apps, hotels, digital boarding passes.
- Post-trip: Reviews, loyalty programs.
- Hotels and airlines only see a tiny part of the traveler’s journey:
- Businesses try to build a "360-degree view" of customers, but they only get fragmented insights.
- Digital wallets could unify this experience, providing:
- Identity verification for seamless check-in.
- AI agents handling preferences (seat selection, baggage, meal requests).
- Automated expenses and receipts for business travelers.
- Long-term vision: Travel assistants powered by AI and digital wallets:
- "Just check me in" → AI handles the entire journey.
- Wallets store preferences, credentials, receipts, and loyalty points.
- Travelers control their entire digital experience from one place.
AI Agents + Digital Wallets: A Game-Changing Combination
- The future of customer interaction is AI-to-AI communication:
- Today: Customers wait in a queue for a call center.
- Next step: AI-powered customer service agents (e.g., Chatbots, AI call centers).
- The real future: Customer AI Agents interacting directly with Business AI Agents.
- Why AI-to-AI communication is transformative:
- Reduces human friction in interactions.
- Speeds up transactions while maintaining trust and compliance.
- Ensures accurate, verified data sharing between parties.
- The need for digital wallets in AI-driven interactions:
- Without verifiable credentials, AI fraud will become a massive issue.
- Organizations need a way to verify AI interactions (e.g., "Is this Jamie’s real AI assistant?").
- Digital ID wallets will serve as a layer of trust between AI systems.
Business Growth Opportunities from Digital Wallets
- Conversion & Onboarding Improvements
- One-tap onboarding via digital wallets.
- Pre-verified identity reduces drop-offs in sign-up flows.
- Cross-sell and upsell opportunities based on verified customer data.
- Radical Customer Experience Improvement
- Eliminate tedious forms and verifications → "Just check me in."
- Customers own and control their data, ensuring accuracy and personalization.
- Automate repetitive interactions (e.g., address updates, expense claims).
- Cost Savings & Fraud Reduction
- Customers as the master data record:
- Reduces duplicate or outdated data across different internal systems.
- Lowers support costs from incorrect or incomplete customer information.
- Fraud reduction via verifiable credentials:
- Digital wallets create a "customer present" experience, lowering fraud rates.
- Organizations can verify a customer’s presence without needing excessive manual checks.
- Customers as the master data record:
- New Revenue Models via Personalization
- Verified preferences as portable credentials (e.g., airline seat preferences, hotel loyalty status).
- Organizations can issue verified credentials and charge for access or updates.
- New AI-driven customer interactions that enhance loyalty and spending.
Challenges & Risks of Adoption
- The "First Mile" Problem:
- Getting users to adopt a digital wallet before they see its value is difficult.
- Requires education, incentives, and seamless integration with existing experiences.
- Short-term Cost vs. Long-term Gain:
- Like online banking, businesses must invest in a new channel before adoption scales.
- Balancing old and new digital transformation efforts adds complexity.
- Slow adoption of compliance-driven use cases:
- Highly regulated industries (e.g., banking, KYC) will take longer to adopt wallets.
- Faster adoption will likely start in low-risk, high-frequency areas (e.g., travel, retail).
The Role of eIDAS 2.0 in Accelerating Digital Wallet Adoption
- The European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet):
- Expected to reach 300–400 million people across the EU.
- Will provide trusted, government-issued digital identity.
- Enables secure login, credential storage, and signing capabilities.
- How eIDAS 2.0 Creates Business Opportunities:
- Organizations can accept pre-verified credentials, reducing compliance burdens.
- New business models for issuing and verifying credentials.
- A gradual but eventually explosive adoption curve:
- Early adoption for compliance use cases.
- Widespread use as businesses recognize wallets as a trusted customer engagement tool.
Practical Advice for Businesses Considering Digital Wallets
- Start with experimentation:
- Test digital wallet integration in small, controlled pilots.
- Identify areas where friction and compliance are pain points.
- Think beyond compliance—focus on growth:
- Digital wallets aren’t just for KYC and identity verification.
- They reduce costs, improve CX, and drive new revenue.
- Look at emerging wallet ecosystems:
- Apple, Google, and Samsung will dominate mainstream wallets.
- Businesses should also explore decentralized, industry-specific wallets.
- Prioritize customer experience over technology:
- Digital wallets should feel invisible and effortless.
- Remove technical jargon (no one cares about "verifiable credentials"—they care about one-tap access).
Final Thoughts
- Digital wallets are the missing trust layer in AI-powered interactions.
- Organizations that leverage wallets early will gain a huge competitive advantage.
- The future of customer interaction is trusted, AI-driven, and seamless.
- Businesses should act now, experiment fast, and iterate quickly to capture this opportunity.
