There’s a wallet service for that…

When Apple launched their App Store in 2008 there were just 500 Apps available.? Within 10 years that number had peaked at 2.2m.? The App Store, along with Google’s Play Store, enabled anyone – from the tech giants to garage coders – to operate alongside one another in offering their great ideas straight onto the devices of Big Tech’s user base.? Of course, this wasn’t actually a new phenomenon – in the early days of personal computing, magazines and high street shops were the equivalent of the app stores of Big Tech.

Both the advent of personal computing and mobile app stores have empowered innovation and creativity.? It created an opportunity for anyone – individuals or businesses, small or large enterprise – to bring their ideas to life.? Along the way launching a new breed of household names including Spotify, Instagram, Shazam and Uber.

As the number of apps grew, so too did the belief in boardrooms up and down the country that their company had to have their own app.? For many companies this involved building a shell application and presenting their website within it.? No purpose, no innovation, no creativity and no value.? The rush to be “an app” was just wasted endeavour.? Thankfully from the peak of 2.2m apps the number has reduced – though still hovers around 1.7m.? With the average person having 80 apps downloaded to their phones, and using just 10 of them a day – there’s still a lot of chaff in the app stores.

In the world of digital identity, having an app is so 2022.? We’re in a new hype cycle, and so in 2023, the belief in boardrooms up and down the country that their company must have their own wallet.? Weirdly, the apps of 2022 are remarkably similar to the wallets of 2023.? Once again, we’ve forgotten about purpose, innovation, creativity, and value.

Here’s my big, bold prediction.? There will only be a handful of mainstream wallets – and they will be so tightly integrated to the device hardware and operating systems that only Big Tech will deliver them.? How can I possibly be right about this when everyone else, including the entire European Union are investing in delivering wallets?

Let’s start by defining what a wallet is.? For that I will go back to the thing that we all had in our pockets before the mobile phone – an actual physical wallet.? Whilst they could be made of different materials, be different colour and have different numbers of card slots.? If you were particularly security conscious, you could even get one with a faraday cage structure stitched into it.? Though fundamentally they all served the same function.? If I choose my phone manufacturer, model of phone, colour choice and storage capacity – there’s not a lot left to differentiate wallet manufacturers.

The other characteristic of a wallet is that within the physical constraints I can put what I like in it.? I can put things that are mine, or things that belong to someone else.? My identity, entitlements, memberships, tickets.? Cash even!? A photo of my family – or just keep the stock photo that came with the wallet when I bought it and give them all names and what relation they are to me… OK maybe that’s just me that did that.? The point is it’s entirely my choice.? It is also my choice as to how I order and group them.? And which ones I present when I need to do something with them.

The UX of my physical wallet was pretty limited.? If I wanted to open a new bank account I did that elsewhere.? I didn’t book flights or trips to the theatre using my wallet.? Though I may have pulled out the appropriate credit card when it came to payment.

A wallet needs functionality to put stuff in it, store that stuff and present that stuff. How boring.? So why does everyone want to be a wallet?? I, like many people, do think that digital wallets will be transformational in how we transact and interact in the digital and meta-age.? Being transformational isn’t boring.

I simply don’t buy that users will prefer a wallet that’s actually an app, that I have to unlock my phone, search for the app (sorry wallet), open it, authenticate into it…. arrrggghhh, over an Apple/Google/Samsung wallet that pops up on my lock screen because my phone knows where I am and what I have planned or what I am likely to be doing.? That can decide whether active authentication intent is required or not.? I don’t buy that users will want a wallet for doing government things, a wallet for doing retail things, a wallet for business, a wallet for… uuugghhh.

What if we change the architecture slightly?? What if rather than trying to compete with the native wallets there’s a way of working with them?? Leave the putting stuff in, storing stuff and presenting stuff to them.? Let them secure it, manage the integration with my calendar and geo-location.? Let them figure out how to use my wallet across devices, how to handle online and offline interactions, how to store frequently used stuff on device and infrequently used stuff in the cloud.? ?How to connect to a Relying Party without a Nascar screen of a hundred wallet providers for the user to select from.

With the wallet plumbing sorted, imagine the innovation that can be built on top.? Rather than an App Store, you can now have a Wallet Services Store that provides value-add to users, issuers of credentials and relying parties.? Need to get your mobile driving licence?? There’s a wallet service for that.? Need to meet NIST IAL2 to get access to your health data? There’s a wallet service for that too.? Need an AI Agent to manage my life… we’ll you get the idea.

Wallet services can run the user experience to get my family photo into my wallet, or my university certificate, or whatever I want to add to my wallet.? I get choice that simply can’t be delivered either by the native wallet or an app wallet.? When I’m transacting using my wallet, I can pick the services that work best for me, for the things I want to do, with the organisations I want to interact with.

This vision isn’t an overnight thing.? In the next 3-5 years having an app with wallet like functionality (can I trademark that?) will be required to shift the agenda and begin the transformation.? Using that time to define a complete architecture where there is space for innovation and competition.? And for governments, regulators and industry bodies to nudge Big Tech into a less dominant position.

About the author

Bryn has worked at the forefront of digital transformation and consumer led innovation for over 20 years. He is a key influencer for how people transact and interact in the digital age. He has redefined the customer experience for trusted interactions; helping major organisations evolve their customer architectures though the use of digital identity.

He was responsible for the launch of citizen digital identity services with leading brands in the UK and now uses that experience to make a globally interoperable, privacy-preserving and inclusive ecosystem a reality. Bryn is a key voice in the establishment of a trusted identity frameworks for public and private sectors.

He is a protagonist of thought leadership through his published media and at industry collaboration events. Bryn is highly skilled in Agile programmes, with a portfolio of delivery success behind him.