The FIDO Alliance has delivered its most compelling argument to date for the business world to abandon passwords, unveiling a new benchmarking tool that shows passkeys boost user conversion success by 30 percent. The “Passkey Index,” developed in collaboration with digital identity consultancy Liminal, marks a strategic shift in the push for passwordless adoption, moving the conversation from security theory to measurable business impact.
For companies still weighing the transition to the next generation of authentication, the index provides the first concrete, industry-backed data quantifying the benefits. Beyond the headline 30 percent increase in conversion rates (a metric that directly impacts top-line revenue), the tool also shows that passkeys are significantly faster. The average sign-in time with a passkey was clocked at just 13.6 seconds, compared to 27.5 seconds for a traditional password, nearly halving user friction during a critical part of the customer journey.
This launch represents a pivotal moment in the FIDO Alliance’s advocacy. For years, the primary argument for passkeys has centered on their superior security, particularly their resistance to phishing attacks. While crucial for security professionals, this message can be abstract for business leaders focused on growth and customer acquisition. The Passkey Index reframes the adoption of passkeys not merely as a security upgrade or a cost center, but as a direct driver of revenue and an enhancement to user experience.
By quantifying the conversion lift, the Alliance is now speaking the language of product managers, marketing executives, and chief financial officers. The data directly addresses the significant business cost of account recovery and abandoned carts, turning the implementation of passkeys into a demonstrable return on investment. This business-centric approach is a clear sign of the technology’s maturity. With the technical and security arguments now well-established, and after widespread adoption by tech giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft, the next phase of growth depends on proving tangible business value. The Passkey Index is the tool designed to win the necessary budget and organizational priority to accelerate that transition.
The momentum for passkey adoption has been building steadily across the industry. Earlier this year, enterprise adoption surged in the US and UK, with 87 percent of organizations either deploying or actively implementing passkey solutions. The FIDO Alliance has been working to support this transition with enterprise guides to demystify passkey implementation and recently launched a Payment Authentication Working Group to extend passwordless authentication into the payments sector.
Major platforms have already demonstrated the technology’s viability. Visa brought passkeys to online payments, marking a major FIDO victory, while Microsoft Authenticator added native passkey support earlier this year. The Alliance has also been updating specifications for cross-platform passkey exchange, ensuring users can move credentials seamlessly between different platforms.
However, organizations must remain vigilant about implementation. Security researchers at Proofpoint recently warned of downgrade attack risks that could bypass FIDO passkeys through fallback authentication methods, highlighting the importance of careful deployment.
As the FIDO Alliance anticipated 2025 breakthroughs in banking, payments, and travel, the Passkey Index provides the quantifiable evidence needed to accelerate adoption. With billions of accounts now supporting the technology and clear business benefits demonstrated, the passwordless future is rapidly becoming the passwordless present.
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
