Two Years at the Top: Why Thales Leads the Digital Identity Market

December 2025

Fintech & Payments

Nick Maynard

VP of Fintech Market Research

For the second year in a row, Thales has topped our Digital Identity Competitor Leaderboard; based on its powerful product offering, market strength, and global scale.

To commemorate this occasion, Nick Maynard, our VP of Fintech Market Research, sat down with Guillaume Lefevre, VP Civil Identity at Thales, to discuss how digital identity is evolving, the trends and challenges it faces, and why Thales continues to stand out.

What key trends and challenges are you seeing in the digital identity market?

Guillaume:

"The top three challenges we face in digital identity today are fragmentation, interoperability, and cybersecurity.

Fragmentation exists because numerous private and public actors issue digital identities or digital wallets, yet these schemes do not work together. This creates friction for users and drives down adoption.

There is a clear need for greater interoperability, where stakeholders collaborate to define and implement international standards. eIDAS 2 in Europe is a strong example of regulation that has driven alignment between stakeholders.

Lastly, cybersecurity because as more of our lives move online, maintaining trust in the protection of data is essential. We have a maximalist approach to cybersecurity — from the handset through the infrastructure and across the entire lifecycle of a digital identity, from onboarding to everyday use."

Nick:

"One of the major trends we’re seeing within digital is around interoperability. the challenges and advantages around interoperability and what its introduction means for the market. Looking at this within the EU, eIDAS 2 is having a major impact here, and will bring a fully fledged, interoperable identity scheme into being within the EU. We’re also seeing interoperability being explored in the form of digital travel credentials, however this is something that is going to take a while to scale up, with this being travel, it will need a long time for all the different partners that need to accept this to do so, but this will be a major future trend within interoperability and identity. 

Another key trend we’re seeing is the hybridization of identity, where physical identity and digital identity documents are both being offered and merged. This has a few different advantages – one of the key ones is that there has been a lot of public skepticism around digital identity in certain markets, most notably the UK, so having the ability to have a physical identity and digital identity means that you’re not forcing a mandatory requirement on certain people. It also allows governments to leverage some of the spend they have already made in the physical identity world, and bring that into the digital identity space, creating a more effective system that doesn’t make people do things they’re not comfortable with.

Of course, one of the major trends we’re seeing is the introduction of regulation that’s driving digital identity forward, whether this is the eIDAS 2 within the EU, or the Online Safety Act and the introduction of reusable digital identity identities in the UK market, or whether its NIST within the US, there are major regulatory changes that are having a major impact in terms of what the digital identity market looks like. Fundamentally, we expect these regulations to have a major impact on what digital identity means for each country, and its important to watch for the future of the space."

Juniper Research ranked Thales as #1 for digital identity in its latest Competitor Leaderboard. What makes Thales such a leader in digital identity?

Guillaume:

"This performance is driven by a combination of factors.

First, we maintain a comprehensive yet modular portfolio of digital identity solutions. This enables us to take a smart, tailored approach to our customers’ unique challenges. Sometimes we deliver end-to-end programmes, and at other times we provide highly sophisticated components.

Second, security and interoperability are at the heart of everything we do. For example, we currently support more than 20 digital identity programmes worldwide, working with public administrations, banks, telecom operators, and airports in their digital transformation.

Finally, as the world leader in secure electronic documents, we are uniquely positioned to provide both physical and digital assets, ensuring seamless onboarding, premium security, and ease of use.

At Thales, we are proud to deliver trusted, inclusive, user-centric digital identity solutions."

Nick:

"There are several reasons why we’ve selected Thales as a an established within our competitor leaderboard for digital identity. One of the major reasons is their offering of hybrid credentials, combining both physical and digital identity capabilities. This sets them apart from the crowd, and really differentiates them within the identity space. They also have a wealth of experience, and the breadth and depth within their portfolio to really meet different identity requirements as they emerge.

Thales is also involved in a number of European digital identity consortia, which really demonstrates its commitment to leading digital identity within Europe, but in a really collaborative way. These different consortia and initiatives include APTITUDE, Odysseus, NOBID, POTENTIAL and WEBUILD, and these really demonstrate Thales’ commitment to work in a collaborative way to drive identity forward.

Thales also has a wealth of experience within the digital identity space, they generate a significant amount of revenue within this market, and they are one of the leaders in this regard. Thales has worked with many countries’ national ID systems that are widely regarded as successful, including Estonia and Singapore, or if we’re talking about digital identity, schemes in Australia and Mauritius; all of which really speaks to their experience and deep understanding of its markets and customers’ requirements." 

Download the full report discussing Thales' recognition in our latest Digital Identity Competitor Leaderboard, including the complete ranking of the top 20 competitors; along with an in-depth presentation of Thales' main digital identity offering. You can also connect with Guillaume and Nick on LinkedIn.