FIDO Alliance to publish its wallet certification documents and opens a forum for issuers and regulators

The FIDO Alliance said on October 20, at its Authenticate 2026 conference in Carlsbad, California, that it will make two working documents from its digital wallet certification program public "in the coming weeks." The Credential Manager Reference Architecture (CMRA) sets functional, security and interoperability requirements for credential managers, meaning digital wallets, across national ID, payments, workforce and travel credentials, and it is the base of FIDO's Credential Manager Certification Program. The Framework for Verifier Identification describes how a wallet receives structured, verified information about the site or service asking for a person's data, so the user can see who is asking before approving. FIDO also launched a non-binding External Advisory Forum for issuers, governments, regulators and industry associations. No publication date was given for either document.

Why it matters

A digital wallet is only as trustworthy as two checks it performs: that the wallet itself protects keys and credentials properly, and that the verifier requesting data is who it claims to be. Today wallets largely answer the second question themselves, which leaves room for a convincing phishing site to request an ID credential. A shared Verifier ID framework is the wallet equivalent of passkeys' origin binding.

If you are building to the EUDI wallet or accepting mobile IDs, read the CMRA when it lands and compare it with your national certification scheme, since overlapping requirements will decide how much testing you repeat. Regulators and issuers who want input now can register for the forum. The conference also followed FIDO's 2026 Passkey Index.

Source: FIDO Alliance