FIDO passkey adoption doubles in 2024 as major firms opt for passwordless log-in
Passkeys are a biometric security trend to watch in 2025. The FIDO Alliance themed its 11th annual FIDO Tokyo Seminar on how passkey adoption is accelerating, with presentations from Google, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Mastercard, and other organizations joining the journey to password-free living. Microsoft has confirmed its advice on how to make people love passkeys – as it sweeps aside a major vulnerability that exposed 400 million Outlook 365 users.
Major tech brands drive mainstreaming of passkey account log-ins
In 2024, Amazon made passkeys available to 100 percent of its users and has seen 175 million passkeys created for sign-in to amazon.com globally. Google says 800 million Google accounts now use passkeys, with more than 2.5 billion passkey sign-ins over the past two years and sign-in success rates improving by 30 percent. Sony adopted passkeys for the global Playstation gaming community and saw a 24 percent reduction in sign-in time on its web applications.
Hyatt, IBM, Target and TikTok are among firms that have added passkeys to their workforce authentication options. More credential management products offering passkey options means more flexibility for consumers.
Japan joins passkey party in private sector, academia
The Japanese market showed a notable turn toward passkeys, with Nikkei, Nulab and Tokyu Corporation among firms embracing passwordless authentication technology. Nikkei will deploy passkeys for Nikkei ID as early as February 2025. Tokyu Corporation says 45 percent of TOKYU ID users have passkeys. And Nulab announced a “dramatic improvement in passkey adoption.”
Academia is helping drive innovation, with teams from Keio University and Waseda University winning acknowledgement for their research and prototypes at a slew of hackathons and workshops.
And FIDO, of course, is there to offer support, now offering its Passkey Central website resource on passkey implementation in Japanese, so that Japanese companies can take better advantage of its introductory materials, implementation strategies, UX and design guidelines and detailed roll-out guides.
The FIDO Japan Working Group, which includes 66 of the FIDO Alliance’s member companies, is now in its 9th year of working to raise passkey awareness in the country.