Digital identity wallets: what do IAM teams need to change?

TL;DR: Digital identity wallets are becoming a practical authentication channel, but integration across wallet ecosystems and standards remains complex, according to OneSpan. The governance issue is not wallet support itself, but whether existing IAM and onboarding flows can extend into new credential formats without creating another layer of fragmentation.

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Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams integrate digital identity wallets into existing IAM programmes?

A: Security teams should integrate digital identity wallets by mapping wallet assertions into existing proofing, authentication, and lifecycle controls rather than creating a separate identity path.

Q: What breaks when digital identity wallets are added without a connector strategy?

A: Without a connector strategy, wallet adoption usually breaks at integration boundaries.

Q: When should organisations prioritise digital credential support over broader IAM redesign?

A: Organisations should prioritise digital credential support when wallet adoption is already a business requirement and the current IAM stack can absorb it through existing onboarding and authentication controls.

Practitioner guidance

• Map wallet trust into existing IAM policy Define how wallet assertions translate into account proofing, assurance level, and authentication decisions before enabling production use.
• Test multi-wallet interoperability early Validate how different wallet ecosystems behave across onboarding and authentication journeys, including fallback handling and exception paths.
• Absorb wallet support into the core stack Extend your current authentication and logging controls rather than creating a separate wallet-specific control plane.

What's in the full announcement

OneSpan's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Early-access positioning for the digital credentials capability and connector approach.
• The vendor's own framing of multi-wallet integration across onboarding and authentication flows.
• Product-level context on how the digital identity wallet connector is intended to fit into existing IAM and authentication stacks.
• The specific rollout path the vendor is asking teams to evaluate during early access.

👉 Read OneSpan's early access details on digital identity wallet capabilities →

Digital identity wallets: what do IAM teams need to change?

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