Warsaw has a new obsession, and it fits neatly in the palm of your hand. The Polish Digital ID platform, known to most citizens as the mObywatel app, is back in the spotlight, courtesy of another government push to convince millions more to sign up. The stakes are high: after years of gradual growth, the Ministry of Digital Affairs wants to speed things up, and it is throwing money, features, and no small amount of optimism into the effort of making Polish digital ID platform more popular.
The numbers tell an interesting story. At the end of July, the ministry proudly announced that mObywatel had crossed the 10 million-user mark. That’s one million more since a public awareness blitz began last November. For the app’s flagship digital ID function, mDowód, the jump from 8 million to over 10 million users is significant. Yet in a country of 38 million, the gap remains striking, especially when compared to mojeID, a bank-issued electronic identity already used by 22 million people.
5 Key Takeaways
1. Growing User Base but Still Behind Competitors:The Polish Digital ID platform (mObywatel) recently reached 10 million users, with mDowód also hitting over 10 million, yet it remains behind bank-issued electronic IDs like mojeID, which has 22 million users.
2. EU Funding and Service Expansion Drive Adoption: The current campaign, backed by EU funds, aims to double the platform’s user base to 20 million by 2035 by adding practical services such as air quality checks, polling station locators, accident reporting (mStłuczka), and fee-free official payments.
3. From Modest Origins to Legal Recognition: Launched in 2017, mObywatel has evolved from a simple document access app into a widely used tool. Key milestones include electronic prescriptions, mobile driving licenses (mDL), and full legal equivalence of digital ID documents to physical cards.
4. Comprehensive Digital Services for Citizens: Beyond IDs, the platform hosts the Large Family Card, professional licenses, and status cards for students, pensioners, and people with disabilities, becoming a central hub for everyday administrative and civic needs, with over 1 million daily logins.
5. Preparing for European Integration and Future Upgrades: Poland is developing mObywatel 3.0 for the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) and running 2.0 in parallel to minimize transition risks. The country is also participating in EU interoperability pilots and plans a qualified signature pilot in 2025.
Polish Digital ID Platform: New Features Aim to Win Over Millions
So why push so hard now? Part of the answer lies in Brussels. The campaign is backed by EU funds, and Poland’s digital strategy sets an ambitious target: 20 million users by 2035. On paper, the math seems simple, double the current base over the next decade. In practice, it’s a race against entrenched habits, competing platforms, and the public’s natural caution toward anything that looks like official paperwork in a new format.
Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski says the plan is straightforward: keep adding useful services until the app becomes too convenient to ignore. Over the past year and a half alone, mObywatel has welcomed 18 new services. Some are small but practical, checking air quality or finding your nearest polling station. Others could be genuinely life-changing for users. One new feature under development, mStłuczka, will let drivers report minor traffic accidents directly through the app, eliminating tedious roadside paperwork. Another upcoming addition will allow citizens to pay official fees electronically and, in a move likely to please just about everyone, without added charges.
From Modest Beginnings to an Everyday Essential
This isn’t a brand-new experiment. The mObywatel platform first appeared in 2017 as a simple way to access public documents online. The pandemic years turned it from a nice-to-have into a household name. In 2020, the app introduced electronic prescriptions and mobile driving licenses (mDL), driving adoption to new heights. The mDL now counts 5.5 million users, and 5.7 million people have signed up for the app’s digital vehicle registration data. In 2023, Poland went a step further by granting digital ID documents the same legal standing as physical cards, a clear signal that the state sees this as more than a side project.
And it’s not just about IDs. There’s the electronic version of the Large Family Card, giving nearly a million families access to discounts and benefits. Professional licenses and status cards, student, pensioner, disability, can also live inside the app. For many users, it has become a one-stop shop for official life, logging over a million entries every day.
Polish Digital ID Platform: Balancing Domestic Ambitions With a European Role
Still, popularity is relative. For all its daily logins and steady upgrades, the Polish Digital ID platform has yet to match the sheer reach of bank-based identities. That’s not entirely surprising. Banking apps were already entrenched long before mObywatel came along, and mojeID’s integration into everyday financial life gave it a head start.
The Ministry’s response is to push in two directions at once: make mObywatel 2.0 more attractive right now while quietly preparing its successor. The upcoming mObywatel 3.0 will align with the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet), the EU’s cross-border identity initiative. The goal is full compliance with the updated eIDAS 2.0 regulation by 2026.
Poland’s approach is pragmatic. By running both versions in parallel for a time, the government hopes to keep current users happy while avoiding the chaos of an abrupt transition. Pavol Hrina, co-founder of the digital identity network DIForum, says this dual-track method reduces the risk of service interruptions, a lesson learned from countries where upgrades have been bumpier than expected.
There’s also a European angle to all this. Warsaw is positioning itself as an active player in EU interoperability trials, including next year’s Warsaw Interop event and a qualified signature pilot planned for October 2025.
We are here to help governments, financial institutions, and businesses to effectively comply with growing regulatory requirements through technology.
