Checkout.com Is the Latest Merchant Services Entity To Add Passkey Support – Digital Transactions
With 5 million passkeys in use worldwide, as of May according to the FIDO Alliance, the authentication technology is gaining ground over traditional usernames and passwords. Merchant services company Checkout.com is the latest to adopt the technology with its use the Visa Payment Passkey.
A passkey consists of a key pair that includes one public key, which is registered with the Web site or app being used, and one private key, which is held only by the user’s device. Access is granted once a user biometrically authenticates themselves. Passkeys also replace one-time passcodes.
Checkout.com, with 1,700 enterprise merchants and forecasted total payment volume of $480 billion in 2026, says it will offer the passkey technology globally starting in the United Kingdom and Europe. London-based Checkout.com lists Best Buy and Microsoft as clients.
Checkout.com’s merchants can offer passkey for use on their Web sites without building a new checkout flow because it’s available from the company’s existing technology.
“Every one-time passcode is a point where a customer can walk away. Visa Payment Passkey lets returning shoppers authenticate the way they already unlock their phone, making checkout both safer and simpler,” Rami Josef, Checkout.com senior product director, says in a statement.
In related Visa news, new Visa research found that 41% of U.S. consumers might use AI to help with shopping but would not tell someone that AI helped out.
The Visa 2026 Holiday Spending Shift Survey found that 54% have already used AI for at least one shopping action, up from 47% in 2025.
The survey of 1,016 consumers conducted Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 found that in response to fraud and scams, 34% have adopted two-factor authentication and the same percentage is changing passwords more often. Another 25% are choosing not to save their payment details with a site. Twenty-four percent are switching to credit cards from debit cards and 21% are opting for digital wallets to make payments.
