Friction and Fatigue = Fraud: not with Passkeys!

Friction and Fatigue = Fraud: not with Passkeys!
Enhancing Banking Security Through Advanced Authentication: Embracing Passkeys

In today’s digital landscape, where online transactions have become ubiquitous, ensuring robust security measures within the banking sector is paramount. But users too often encounter friction in their onboarding process or just give up due to the multiple times they are asked to prove their identity.

With the proliferation of cyber threats and the increasing sophistication of malicious actors, traditional authentication methods have proven to be inadequate in safeguarding sensitive financial data. However, a transformative shift is underway, powered by advanced authentication technologies such as FIDO (Fast Identity Online), revolutionizing the way banks protect their customers’ accounts and transactions. Here, we delve into four key considerations and an outlook on how banking security is being fortified with advanced authentication, particularly through the adoption of FIDO technology:

1. Seamless Authentication Across Platforms
   Banks have made significant strides in leveraging biometrics for native banking app sign-ins, offering users a convenient and secure authentication experience. However, this convenience is often absent when accessing banking services via web browsers, where users are still required to rely on traditional usernames and passwords. By adopting FIDO-based passkey authentication for web applications, banks can provide a consistent and frictionless user experience across all platforms, enhancing security while reducing login time and fatigue.
2. Streamlining Payment Approvals
   The current process of approving payments during e-commerce transactions often involves app-switching or device-switching, introducing unnecessary friction and potentially impacting conversion rates. With the integration of Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) technology, powered by FIDO authentication, users can seamlessly approve payments without the need to switch apps or devices. Initial pilots have demonstrated a significant uplift in conversion rates, underscoring the efficacy of this approach in enhancing user experience and security.
3. Expanding the Role of Banking Cards
   Traditional banking cards are primarily designed for offline use, limiting their utility in online transactions and contributing to the prevalence of card-not-present (CNP) fraud. By incorporating FIDO security key technology into banking cards, financial institutions can extend the functionality of these cards to online transactions, providing users with a secure and convenient authentication method. This not only simplifies device migration for banking app access but also reduces reliance on vulnerable authentication methods such as SMS-based OTPs.
4. Optimizing User Onboarding Processes
   The conventional approach to user onboarding in banking often involves ID proofing before credentialing the user, resulting in potential disruptions and drop-offs during the signup process. By reversing this order and leveraging FIDO passkeys, banks can enhance the onboarding success rate while providing a seamless user experience. Passkeys eliminate the need for passwords altogether, further streamlining the authentication process and ensuring a smoother transition for new users.

Outlook: Shifting Towards FIDO-Based Authentication

The authentication landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift, transitioning from traditional methods like passwords and OTPs to FIDO passkeys. This evolution is driven by the need for stronger security measures, improved user experience, and compliance with regulatory requirements such as PSD2 and SCA. As banks embrace FIDO technology, they stand to benefit from enhanced security, reduced friction, and greater flexibility in authentication methods.

Where can you find the cross platform, streamlined but secure onboarding for your banking applications – Nok Nok. As one of the creators of FIDO-based authentication credentials, Nok Nok offers passwordless sign-up and sign-in to online services. Nok Nok™ solutions are built from the ground-up leveraging FIDO standards and offer the most comprehensive passkey support to meet the widest range of use cases.

In conclusion, FIDO-based authentication holds the key to fortifying banking security in an increasingly digital world. By embracing advanced authentication technologies and prioritizing user experience, banks can stay ahead of evolving threats and provide their customers with the peace of mind they deserve in their financial transactions.