Few product decisions have a simultaneous effect on security, conversion, and operational cost. The adoption of passkeys — passwordless authentication based on cryptographic keys on the device — is one of them.
The gain is not just in security. It's in removing the step that generates the most silent abandonment in the funnel: creating and remembering a password.
Why Passwords Remain the Weak Point
Password is the only step in registration that requires prior cognitive effort. The user needs to come up with something they won't forget, that meets policy, and that they haven't used before. Each additional rule reduces completion.
On the other hand, passwords are the main source of support costs: resets, locks, suspicion of unauthorized access. It's a recurring cost that never goes away.
What Changes Technically
With passkeys, the device stores a pair of keys and authenticates via biometrics or a local PIN. There is no secret transmitted or stored on the server. Phishing no longer has a useful target because there is no password to capture.
Direct Impact on Conversion
By eliminating the password creation step, registration is shortened. In high-volume flows, fewer steps mean more completion — especially on mobile, where typing is more costly.
The greater effect appears in return: those who don't need to remember a password come back more. Password resets are one of the biggest causes of abandonment on the second access.
Impact on Support
Requests for password resets drop significantly. For operations with human support, this frees up capacity for cases that truly require human intervention.
What Implementation Requires
Mandatory Fallback. Not every device in the fleet is compatible. Without an alternative path, you trade one friction for a blockage.
Gradual Migration. Offer passkeys on the first access and promote them over time. Forcing migration on a legacy base creates unnecessary friction.
Trained Support. The support script changes. The question shifts from "what is your password?" to "what device are you using?". Without training, the team improvises and creates new problems.
Account Recovery. This is the most delicate point. A poorly designed recovery process nullifies the security gain. Design it before launching.
Where the Gain is Smaller
Operations with users on old devices, without biometrics, or with shared access environments may have low adoption. In this case, the benefit appears more on the security side than on conversion.
There is also limited gain when login is already resolved by social networks, which already provide delegated authentication.
Also read:
How to Prioritize
Measure how many support sessions are for password resets and how many registrations abandon at the password creation step. If both numbers are significant, the business case is ready. If they are marginal, the main gain is security — and the decision becomes one of risk, not revenue.
Passwordless authentication is not an aesthetic trend. It is a reduction of friction and cost with the same positive side effect: less fraud.