Passkey logins for Android are now available through PayPal in the US

As long as Android users in the United States access the website using the Chrome browser, PayPal is extending access to passkey logins to them. In October of last year, the payment processor introduced passkey logins for Apple computers and tablets running macOS Ventura and iPadOS16. Google still couldn’t seem to deliver stable passkey support for Android and Chrome at that point, yet PayPal vowed to make the secret key option accessible to different stages and nations later on.

Passkeys were rolled out to stable Chrome by December of last year. With some restrictions, PayPal is now delivering on its promise. The payment processor’s Android app does not yet offer a login option, so users can only use Chrome on Android 9-powered devices to activate it.

Users can access websites and services that support the new authentication technology without entering usernames or passwords. It is not quite the same as current login technology, which auto-populates login boxes using facial or fingerprint recognition, despite the fact that it can use biometric authentication to verify a user’s identity. The technology makes a cryptographic key pair — one public and one private — that becomes related with a client’s record. Passkey-enabled apps and services match a user’s public key to their private key, which is stored on their device, to verify their identity. Some password managers can now sync passkeys between devices, as noted by report.

To enact passkeys for PayPal on Android, qualified clients need to sign in the conventional manner on a Chrome program first. The option to “create a passkey” will then appear, prompting them to use their biometrics or the passcode on their phone to prove their identity. They will discover that they will no longer need to type anything in order to quickly check out purchases with PayPal on Chrome once they have finished setting everything up. Passkeys are also more secure due to their resistance to phishing. In addition, in the event of a data breach involving an app or service, no one’s login information will be compromised because one of the key pairs is stored on the user’s device.