Passkeys Are the Future—But Can We Eliminate the Friction?

Passkeys are being heralded as the next leap in authentication, particularly by banks and large enterprises eager to move beyond the vulnerabilities of passwords. However, there’s a critical sticking point: user experience. When the login flow is cumbersome—even if security is enhanced—customers often abandon ship.

A recent Biometric Update article underscores exactly this tension, noting that the complexity of setting up and managing passkeys could deter users from adopting them in the first place. Let’s break down the key challenges:

The Draw of Passkeys—And the Stumbling Blocks

1. Unrivaled Security, If Done Right

It’s no secret that traditional passwords are plagued by phishing, credential stuffing, and brute-force attacks. Passkeys circumvent these threats by leveraging public key cryptography, which means:

• No shared secrets that criminals can intercept.
• Strong protection against phishing, since users don’t manually type credentials that could be hijacked.

But banks and other large enterprises quickly realize that better security isn’t enough if the user journey is painful.

2. A Tangled UX That Spooks Users

The article points out that if passkeys are difficult to set up or confusing to manage across multiple devices, the very people who stand to benefit may abandon them. Common issues include:

• Multiple apps for generation and storage.
• Device-switching headaches when upgrading phones or computers.
• Overwhelming instructions that make onboarding a chore.

For banks (and industries with sensitive data), a stumbling block in the login process can lead to lost customers and frustrated support teams—exactly what they’re trying to avoid.

3. Rising Expectations, Declining Patience

The refrain is clear: customers want something more secure and simpler than passwords. Any friction—from an extra download to a confusing multi-step tutorial—could sabotage adoption.

Indeed, user patience is at an all-time low:

• If a login screen doesn’t work within seconds, people look for alternatives.
• Additional identity verification steps, while important, can feel like a burden if poorly implemented.

4. The Build vs. Buy Conundrum

Given this landscape, many organizations face a dilemma:

• Build a custom passkey solution: This might seem ideal for total control, but it also requires deep security expertise, a dedicated engineering team, rigorous testing, and ongoing compliance updates. Even large enterprises can stumble—leading to high costs, slow time-to-market, and potential security gaps if anything is missed.
• Buy a third-party platform: This approach should, in theory, let you integrate passkey capabilities quickly without reinventing the wheel. But can it handle the strict requirements of regulated industries? Will the UX actually be smooth enough to please customers?

The stakes are high: a single UX misstep can cost both trust and revenue, especially in finance and healthcare.

Enter OwnID: A Turnkey Solution That Eliminates Passkey Pain

OwnID offers a ready-made, frictionless, and secure passwordless solution that knocks down the barriers laid out above:

1. Seamless, Single-Step Onboarding
   Users can register or log in with biometrics—no extra apps, no new passwords to create. This drastically reduces abandoned sign-ups.
2. Pain-Free Cross-Device Access
   OwnID keeps everything synchronized, so switching devices isn’t a support nightmare. Users don’t have to manually transfer passkeys; the system handles the heavy lifting.
3. Enterprise-Grade Security and Compliance
   Built on public key cryptography, OwnID ensures your login system is phishing-resistant by design. Even better, its built-in compliance features help meet strict regulations—something homegrown solutions often struggle with.
4. Time and Cost Savings
   Instead of funneling resources into building an in-house team to manage cryptography, UX, and compliance, organizations can tap into a proven platform. OwnID’s APIs and SDKs allow rapid integration, meaning less engineering overhead and faster time-to-market.
5. User Experience as the Core
   OwnID prioritizes intuitive flows and guided prompts, ensuring even non-technical users can adopt passwordless technology with confidence.

In short: if your organization wants to harness passkey security without alienating users—or sinking countless hours into building and maintaining an in-house system—OwnID delivers the perfect combination of security, simplicity, and speed.

Conclusion

Passkeys undeniably represent a massive leap beyond passwords, offering robust protection for organizations and a far more convenient experience for users—when implemented effectively. As highlighted by the Biometric Update article (and echoed in various industry discussions), the biggest barrier has always been friction.

By choosing OwnID, you skip the guesswork and plunge straight into a best-in-class passwordless experience that meets the needs of both security-conscious organizations and the modern, impatient user. Embrace passkeys without the headaches—and reap the rewards of a faster, more secure authentication landscape.

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