How to encourage passkey creation on multiple devices?

Why is multi-device coverage critical for passkey success, and how can payment providers encourage passkey creation on multiple devices?#

Multi-device passkey coverage is critical because users typically interact with payment platforms across various devices - such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and even shared family computers. If passkeys aren't available on all user devices, individuals will be forced back to fallback authentication methods like passwords or OTPs, resulting in increased friction, higher operational costs, and lower adoption rates.

Why Multi-device Passkey Coverage Matters#

Reduced Friction#

Seamless authentication across all user devices ensures frictionless payments, improving user satisfaction and reducing cart abandonment rates.

Improved Security#

Wider passkey availability minimizes the need for less secure fallback methods, significantly enhancing overall security and reducing vulnerabilities related to phishing and credential theft.

Higher Adoption Rates#

Providing a consistent authentication experience across multiple devices reinforces user trust and encourages more frequent passkey usage.

How Payment Providers Can Encourage Passkey Creation Across Multiple Devices#

Proactive Device Enrollment Prompts#

After a user registers their first passkey, providers should prompt users to easily add passkeys to additional devices upon subsequent logins.

Hybrid Authentication ("Healing") Flows#

If users log in on devices without existing passkeys, providers can offer quick options (such as QR code scanning or cross-device authentication) to seamlessly create a new passkey on the current device.

Clear Communication and Education#

Clearly communicate the benefits of multi-device coverage through targeted user education campaigns, emphasizing security, convenience, and ease of use.

Analytics and Optimization#

Regularly track metrics such as multi-device coverage rates and fallback method usage to continuously improve passkey adoption strategies and proactively address device coverage gaps.

By focusing on comprehensive multi-device passkey coverage, payment providers can offer users a frictionless and secure checkout experience across all devices, closely resembling successful native solutions like Apple Pay.

Read the full article#

About Corbado

Corbado is the Authentication Intelligence Platform for CIAM teams running consumer authentication at scale. We help you see what IDP logs and generic analytics tools can't: where passkeys, passwords, OTP, social login and fallback journeys succeed, stall or fail, which devices and browsers create friction, and when an OS update silently breaks login. Two products: Corbado Observe layers process mining and observability across authentication journeys. Corbado Connect adds managed passkeys with analytics built in alongside your IDP. VicRoads runs passkeys for 5M+ users with Corbado (+80% passkey activation). Talk to a Passkey Expert →