Consumers ready for passwordless technology and prefer biometrics; FIDO Alliance report

May 16, 2023, 12:52 pm EDT | Larisa Redins

Consumers ready for passwordless technology and prefer biometrics; FIDO Alliance report

FIDO Alliance has published a report examining how the behavior, patterns and adoption of authentication technologies reflect the consumers’ readiness for passwordless technologies.

According to the report, passwords are still the most common way to access an account, but biometrics, such as a face scan or fingerprints, are preferred over all other methods by 29 percent. Only 19 percent prefer to use a password. While 44 percent say they log in to accounts with biometrics, 64 percent use passwords.

However, 90 percent of respondents say they have had to reset a password and 32 percent say they reset a password several times a year. Further, almost 70 percent of consumers admit that their most frequently used password is over a year old.

The report reveals consumer awareness and passkey demand have increased since the Fall of 2022. Fifty-eight percent of U.S. consumers are interested in passwordless technology, and 47 percent say they are somewhat familiar with passkeys.

According to the report, most customers have abandoned a shopping cart in the past six months because they forgot their password.

NextTech Communications conducted the research for the FIDO Alliance survey using an online survey with 1,042 U.S. consumers 18 years or older. The largest demographic of respondents (30 percent) is between the ages of 30-44.

Last month, the Fido Alliance also released a 45-page white paper titled ‘FIDO Alliance.Using FIDO for the EUDI Wallet‘ based on the discussions of the FIDO subgroup on the EUDI Wallet. The report was published to assist government agencies in considering using FIDO for the EUDI Wallet under the eIDAS2 regulation.