Digital Wallets: Trust Frameworks - Governing the Ecosystem

Overview & Synopsis

This policy note—the second in a series on digital wallets—explains how trust frameworks provide that governance foundation. In other words, this note is designed to help governments move beyond the question of how to build a wallet to the more fundamental question of how to build trust in a wallet ecosystem. Trust frameworks define the rules, standards, roles, and accountability mechanisms that ensure digital wallets, credential issuers, and verifiers operate in a way that can be trusted. They determine who is allowed to issue credentials, how identity verification must be performed, how wallets must protect keys and sensitive data, how compliance is verified, and who bears liability when things go wrong. Without such governance, even the most technically sound credentials can leave the door wide open for impersonation, tampering, or other types of fraud. This policy note proposes a five-layer model for trust frameworks and shows how these layers reinforce one another. The first strategic layer establishes the shared vision, objectives, scope, and guiding principles that anchor the entire scheme. The second technology layer defines the technical architecture, standards, and security requirements needed to ensure interoperability and trustworthy operations. The third scheme rules layer sets out the policies, procedures, and role definitions that operationalize the framework for all participants. The fourth compliance layer provides mechanisms for assessing, supervising, and enforcing adherence to the agreed rules and technical standards. The fifth agreement layer formalizes these elements into binding instruments that give the trust framework its legal force and clarify rights, obligations, and liabilities.