The drive to global digital identity adoption picked up pace this week, as Germany’s BundID announced 2 million logins per month, Rwanda revealed more than 3,300 registrations for its upcoming digital ID card, and Bhutan’s digital ID provider partnered with U.S.-firm iDen2 to export the lessons from the country’s successful scheme.
German swings and roundabouts
The latest data from the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernization (Bundesministerium für Digitales und Staatsmodernisierung, or BMDS) contained good and bad news for the country’s “BundID” digital ID scheme.
As reported by the AFP news agency on August 23, the BMDS revealed that the number of BundID users had dropped from just under 5.3 million in December 2024 and 6 million in March 2025, to around 4.9 million active accounts by August.
“The decline in the number of user accounts can be explained by the automatic deletion of inactive accounts in the first quarter of 2025,” a Ministry spokesperson told AFP. They added that “due to data protection regulations, user accounts must be deleted after 24 months of inactivity.”
However, this drop may appear worse than it is, as the fall in users was likely related to accounts opened by pupils and students in 2023, when the BundID required them to receive a 200-euro one-off payment as compensation for the rise in energy prices.
The data also showed some positive signs: since May 2025, the number of users has steadily risen again, increasing by around 500k over the past few months. However, an even stronger indicator of progress was that the number of users per month has doubled since 2024, with average logins increasing from around one to two million per month.
The BundID is a single sign-on system that allows users to log in to Germany’s online government platforms and digital services across public authorities at the federal, state, and local levels.
It was launched in 2019, and by the end of 2022, it was integrated into 43 online services and portals. It is now connected to nearly 1,800 online services, platforms, or portals, including applications for parental allowance or student loans (BAföG), and when registering a residence or new car.
Unfortunately, according to the AFP report, the BMDS could not specify which online administrative services are most frequently used by citizens.
Rwanda registers over 3,300 prospective users
In more straightforwardly positive news for digital ID adoption, Rwanda’s National Identification Agency (NIDA) announced that more than 3,300 people have already registered for the country’s upcoming digital ID card—known as the Single Digital ID (SDID)—since registration opened on August 7, according to a report from local outlet The New Times.
The SDID was launched in early 2023 to provide all 14 million-plus Rwandan citizens with a single digital ID that can be used to, amongst other things, access government services, open bank accounts, register SIM cards, and apply for loans.
The first registration phase began with the launch of the digital ID awareness campaign, which took place at the Rwanda International Trade Fair earlier in August. The campaign aims to educate the public on the new digital ID system and the enrollment process, with NIDA hoping to issue the first IDs next year.
At the International Trade Fair, officials verified personal data before pre-enrolling applicants into the system. The next phase is set to kick off in September and will expand registration at the district level, according to NIDA.
“This is a nationwide project that will cover all citizens, as well as foreigners, refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and Rwandans living abroad,” said NIDA, in a statement sent to The New Times.
NIDA’s Director of Production and Distribution, Dieudonné Manago, also emphasized the enhanced security features of the SDID in comparison to the existing system—where the previous ID took two fingerprints during registration, the new digital ID reportedly captures ten fingerprints, iris scans, and facial recognition.
The SDID is designed to authenticate identities securely via smart devices or service centers. For citizens traveling within the region, it can link to cross-border services, although printing a physical card remains optional. The system also links data across key institutions, including the Rwanda Social Security Board, Rwanda Revenue Authority, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Local Government, allowing synchronized and verified information.
“Even if you lose your phone, you can download your digital ID again without any risk of losing access,” Manago told The New Times. “Previously, the ID card itself carried more value; now, the person does. Authentication ensures that service providers recognize you correctly.”
According to the Government of Rwanda, it is rolling out a Rwf280 billion ($200 million) digital acceleration project, funded by the World Bank, to significantly expand broadband access, digitalize public services, and enhance inclusion across key sectors such as health, education, and agriculture.
This includes a $39.3 million allocation for upgrading Rwanda’s national ID and civil registration systems.
“The initiative will build on Rwanda’s existing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and strengthen the National Identification Agency (NIDA), supporting the rollout of digital IDs in a ‘soft’ format suitable for use across public and private platforms,” said the Government.
Once the SDID scheme is fully rolled out, Rwanda hopes to add its name to digital ID success stories such as Bhutan, which announced this week that it would be offering its experience in real-world deployment as part of an effort to accelerate digital ID programs worldwide.
Bhutan partners up to export success
On August 19, Bhutan NDI—the organization behind the South Asian nation’s National Digital Identity (NDI) program—announced a strategic partnership with United States-based digital identity platform provider iDen2 to launch an end-to-end digital identity solution to meet all industry standards and future regulatory requirements.
The solution, known as “Phenix,” provides a modular digital ID architecture aimed at governments and enterprises, encompassing identity enrollment, verification, authentication, and lifecycle management.
In a press release, Bhutan NDI explained that Phenix was engineered to meet stringent industry standards and regulatory requirements, integrating a broad range of standards and compliance domains, including the ISO/IEC 24760 identity management framework, GDPR’s data protection principles, eIDAS 2.0 architecture, and W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 standards.
“This breadth of coverage maximizes interoperability while simultaneously maintaining high security and privacy standards,” said the company.
The ultimate aim of Phenix is to “democratize digital identity deployment” for nations around the world by transforming and streamlining procedures involving ID. By combining Bhutan NDI’s real-world deployment expertise with IDen2’s “cutting-edge digital identity platform,” the pair hope to “accelerate digital inclusion across all segments of society while unlocking unprecedented economic growth and social mobility.”
According to iDen2, Bhutan’s national digital ID deployment has enabled 78% of the rural population to access government services digitally—these people may previously have been excluded from the formal economy. It has also reduced transaction costs by 70% through digital channels, increased formal financial services access by 45%, reduced administrative processing time by 60% across all departments, and reduced corruption-related losses by an estimated 30%.
The company added that Bhutan NDI’s integrated eKYC service—which will be available through Phenix—also reduced customer onboarding time for banks and telecom providers from days to under five minutes.
“Phenix is the culmination of our vision to create a force multiplier that will reshape how nations approach digital identity transformation,” said Philip Fahim, co-founder of iDen2. “This isn’t just technology—it’s a complete solution that combines Bhutan NDI’s proven implementation expertise with iDen2’s technological innovation.”
This sentiment was echoed by Jacques Von Benecke, CEO of Bhutan NDI, who said of the partnership: “Having successfully navigated the complexities of national digital identity deployment in Bhutan, we understand what governments need—a proven roadmap that eliminates the trial-and-error approach that has historically plagued digital transformation initiatives.”
He added that Phenix “delivers the efficiency gains and standards compliance that will be transformative for nations worldwide, enabling governments to focus on serving citizens rather than wrestling with implementation complexities.”
Bhutan recently rolled out a new suite of advanced value-added features for its NDI wallet to reduce fraud, streamline identity verification, and enhance the delivery of high-value public and private services.
A notable feature was “Biometric Liveness Verification,” which detects if the person in front of the camera is real, increasing trust in important digital activities such as high-value transactions, voting, property transfers, and pension disbursements. Other notable new features included the introduction of a secure peer-to-peer chat and image-based verifiable credentials.
Watch: What can organizations do to get on the Web3 & digital identity bus?
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Source: https://coingeek.com/germany-rwanda-boost-digital-id-schemes-bhutan-shares-its-success/