Developed by the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium, passkeys is a new passwordless authentication solution designed to replace passwords with cryptographic key pairs and reduce dependence on login credentials. They are resistant to phishing and social engineering attempts. With passkeys, PayPal users will no longer need to remember their password, which will allow them to check out with greater ease and complete their purchases. “Launching passkeys for PayPal is foundational to our commitment to offering our customers safe, secure and easy ways to access and manage their daily financial lives,” said Doug Bland, SVP and GM, Head of Consumer, PayPal. “We are excited to provide our customers a more seamless checkout experience that eliminates the risks of weak and reused credentials and removes the frustration of remembering a password. We are making it easier for customers to shop online.” Currently, only Apple products support passkeys with Microsoft and Google expected to bring the new passwordless authentication solution to their accounts in the near future. To create a passkey on devices running iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or macOS Ventura, PayPal users need to log in to the website via a desktop browser or mobile web and then choose the “Create a passkey” option. Once created, passkeys are synced with iCloud Keychain for security purposes, and logins are authenticated with Apple Face ID or Touch ID. If PayPal users have devices that don’t support passkeys yet, they can still use an iPhone to log in with a PayPal passkey. They just need to scan the QR code that will appear after they enter their PayPal User ID. According to the company, the new PayPal login option will first roll out to iPhone, iPad, or Mac users on PayPal.com and will later expand to other platforms that add support for passkeys. Passkeys for PayPal has started rolling out to account holders in the United States. For PayPal users living in countries outside of the U.S. will receive passkey support in “early 2023”.
