On average, a person handles over 150 personal passwords with 87 business-related passwords. For long, passwords have been the primary, default means of security and authentication for all digital accounts, apps, or devices. Systems relied on the user remembering their passwords, with a simple username and a password for authentication to grant them access. However, the passwords were rarely unique, with users using similar passwords across accounts.
Eventually, to add complexity, users were required to add special characters to make passwords less vulnerable. This in turn, led to further insecure practices with users replicating passwords, writing them down, while making them harder to remember. Phishing and data breaches exposed user data to hackers, underscoring the need for a more secure means of logging in and accessing accounts for users.
Enter passkeys: a next-generation, evolutionary successor to fragile passwords, enabling both speed and security without friction.
What is a passkey?
A passkey is a new authentication method, where in place of hard-to-remember passwords, users use biometric data or a device PIN to log in to a website or app. This allows users to securely log in to their accounts without having to remember their passwords that can be stolen or reused.
Passkeys are built on the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) standards developed by the FIDO Alliance to improve security by minimizing the reliance on passwords. Along with WebAuthn, the web standard that allows websites to request authentication, passkeys are set to replace passwords as they are easier to use and phishing-resistant.
How do passkeys work?
Passkeys work in cryptographic pairs: a private key and a public key. The private key is stored on your device, while a public key is stored by the service you’re logging in to. When a user attempts to log in to a website or app, the private key authenticates their identity and allows them to log in using biometrics like face ID or fingerprint ID, or a device PIN. In the background, the two keys are matched, and upon successful authentication, the user is granted access to their account.
A critical aspect of the passkey is that it is domain-specific - it only works with the website or app where they were created. As the private key is never transmitted, hackers cannot reuse user credentials as the passkey won’t work on a fake website without the cryptographic match.
To the user, the process is as simple as unlocking their phone: it is quick, secure, and intuitive. The passkeys are matched and user identity authenticated in the background, with the complexity invisible to the user. This is what makes passkeys the future of secure authentication, where the user can avoid common points of failure, such as entering usernames and passwords, typing in incorrect credentials, or resetting forgotten passwords.
Why do passkeys matter?
Passkeys are gaining user awareness and trust, a study by Fido Alliance shows 53% users believe passkeys offer better security than passwords, and 54% believe they offer more convenience. It is essential for businesses to align with user reliance on passkeys and put serious focus on adoption. Let’s look at how passkeys are crucial for a business:
- Greater security
Passwords, although with some security measures, are saved on business servers, making it their responsibility to protect them. With passkeys, only the public key is saved on the business server, while the private key remains safe with the user’s device. This means that in the event of an attack, there is no usable data available to a hacker to misuse.
- Improved consumer experience
With the simplicity of using the same methods as unlocking their phones, users no longer face friction when logging in to their accounts. The need for remembering passwords is eliminated enabling a log in experience that is easier, reducing the number of drop-offs. With passkeys combining multi-factor authentication, that is something the user has and is, the process is made less clunky, allowing a smoother, elevated consumer experience.
Passkeys for payments
Along with authenticating users to log in to their accounts, passkeys also play a key role in authenticating consumers when they make a payment. With the use of biometrics and the absence of a second layer of authentication, payments are made safer and frictionless for consumers. As passkeys are inherently multi-factor authenticated, they also meet global compliance requirements while reducing costs for businesses in password resets and SMS verifications.
How does Juspay help?
Juspay's Click to Pay with Passkeys helps merchants streamline the checkout experience with the use of biometrics to complete a payment. Consumers can use Click to Pay with Passkeys to make one-click payments without requiring a password or pin.
A one-click payment option significantly minimizes the abandonment of carts due to inefficient payment processes, as users must wait for OTPs to complete a payment. Instead, a password-less payment experience allows for quick transactions that are streamlined and secure, eliminating friction at checkout and saving businesses substantial revenue.
Juspay combines the advantageous passkey with tokenization, enabling businesses and consumers to make secure transactions that are not only convenient but aligned with the future of fraud-resilient passwordless payments.
