PayPal’s bringing its passkey logins to Android

PayPal has announced it is rolling out a passwordless login feature called passkey. The feature, which is based on Fast Identity Online (FIDO) authentication standards, will allow users to log in to their accounts using biometric authentication, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, or a passcode. Users with Android 9 or newer, accessing PayPal through the Chrome browser, will be able to use the new feature. The company has not yet stated if the feature will be extended to the PayPal app or iOS devices.

Although PayPal says it will roll out on its website first, it aims to expand passkeys to cover other products and services. Password managers, including ones built into iOS and Android, already support the syncing of passkeys between devices. Despite the promise of passwordless logins, PayPal will have to wait for other sites and services to roll out support, potentially slowing adoption despite its promise of increased security and convenience.

PayPal’s passkeys take a similar approach to FIDO2 authentication used by Google, which allows users to log in to websites using both their password and biometric authentication such as fingerprint scanning. However, Google’s system only works on Chrome, and still requires users to create and remember a password. Other companies, such as Microsoft and Best Buy, are also advocating for passwordless logins. Microsoft is replacing passwords with the Microsoft Authenticator app, which allows users to log in with their mobile phone or Huawei security key. Best Buy is developing its own authentication system called OneID, which will use encrypted biometric data stored on a user’s device to authenticate online transactions.

As cyberthreats continue to increase, passwordless login options are becoming an increasingly popular solution to boost online security. Apple has already implemented the ‘Sign in with Apple’ feature, which uses biometric authentication to allow users to skip the password creation process. As such, it’s likely that more companies will begin to develop their own passwordless login systems in the future. However, this shift in how users authenticate themselves may take some time to become widely adopted, as PayPal’s limited support from other sites and services shows.



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