If you have opened a bank or fintech account in Malta lately, you know the drill. Photo of the front of your ID card. Photo of the back. A selfie with the card held up next to your face. Then you wait.That routine might finally have an expiry date. Malta has launched the tender for its European Digital Identity Wallet, a phone app that will let you prove who you are, and how old you are, without digging out the plastic card. The contract is estimated at €15.66 million.EU rules require every member state to offer its citizens one of these wallets by the end of 2026. Here, the Malta Digital Innovation Authority is running the project, and the government says the wallet will let residents identify themselves online and in person, verify their age when required, store documents like driving licences and sign documents electronically.Why the photo routine has to goThe problem with the current system is not just the faff. Every company that checks you ends up keeping its own copy of your card, your face and your address.Last month that stopped being a theory. Maltese accounts were reportedly among the 680 caught up in a Revolut data breach and the information involved reportedly included names, addresses and verification photos. Revolut says its systems and customer funds were not affected.Revolut has said as many as seven in 10 people in Malta use its services, and every one of them went through some version of that photo routine to open an account. Multiply it by every bank, payment app and online service you have ever signed up to, and that is a lot of copies of the same card.The checks nobody can skipSome ID checks are a business choice. Others are the law. Banks have to verify customers under anti-money laundering rules and online gaming operators licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority have to run a Know Your Customer check on every player.Those regulated checks are where the upload routine is most dug in, and where you can see what it costs in time. Reviewers who open online casino accounts in Malta with real euros and time each step report that licensed sites usually approve uploaded documents within 24 hours. So a day is roughly the benchmark the wallet has to beat.In theory, it should beat it easily. Under the EU framework, citizens get to choose which parts of their identity they share. An age check could come back as a simple yes or no, with no photo of your card changing hands at all.What to watch forThe bidding deadline was originally 3rd September, but it has since been pushed back and the government’s tender portal now lists 2nd December. That is a matter of weeks before the EU’s end-of-year deadline, so do not expect the app on your phone by Christmas. The bigger question is which businesses actually agree to accept it.Two details worth knowing. The wallet is designed as a voluntary option, so anyone who would rather keep things analogue can stick with the plastic card. The EU requires national wallets to be recognised by other member states, so in principle the same app should get you through an ID check in Sicily just as it would in Sliema.If banks, payment apps and licensed operators all plug in, the ID selfie could quietly disappear. If they do not, you will have a shiny new wallet on your phone and still be photographing the back of your ID card in the kitchen.Would you trust a phone wallet with your ID or are you sticking with the plastic card?What do you make of this?•