PayPal announces the start of the switch from passwords to passkey on android too. The initiation of the pass and not an actual pass for several reasons. The first: it starts from the United States and not even with the entire customer base, later the distribution will be extended to the entire US audience and then to the rest of the world. Times are long indeed. The second: in this phase, the access procedure via the Android app will remain the same as always, the passkeys only concern the access via Chrome on the web.

In return there are no special requirements, just log in from Chrome with an Android smartphone with the robot version 9 or later. “With the ability to create a passkey, Android users can take the first step towards a password-free future today”, writes the company. Apple is not mentioned because on iOS and iPadOS, still in the USA, the transition had already taken place towards the end of last year. PayPal, as a founding member of the FIDO Alliance together with Google, Apple and Microsoft, relies heavily on passkeys to overcome passwords.

Passkeys on the card solve several problems: just own a face or a fingerprint to no more having to remember any password or recover it in some way if you forget it; there are many who use one or two on most or all accounts to avoid having multiple passwords and forgetting one, a effective method also to expose wallets and data to significant risks. Passkeys promise a more effective solution, but apart from PayPal and 1Password there are not many other relevant subscriptions.