According to the most recent 2025 Consumer Digital Trust Index report, the majority of sectors experienced a decline in trust levels compared to last year, with not one sector achieving at least 50%. Part of this decline is attributed to broken user experience due to the use of passwords.
In this latest report, there was an undercurrent of frustration from users who feel they are being asked to shoulder an unfavorable amount of weight when it comes to privacy-protecting logins, which can be riddled with forgotten passwords, extra steps, and friction-filled user experiences.
If organizations want to honor consumers’ needs for trust while still maintaining their business, better, more user-friendly approaches to digital sign-ons are necessary. In today’s world, that means replacing passwords with passwordless authentication, biometrics, and risk-based authentication (RBA).
Brands Are Losing Customers Over Passwords
Competition for digital customers is fierce, and patrons know it is a buyer’s market. It is sobering to note that after thousands are spent on market research, supply chain stability, intellectual property, shipping, and customer service, something as small as a password problem could send customers running the other way.
When consumers are asked which factors contributed the most to them abandoning a brand (or switching to a competitor):
- 17% said, “Forgetting their Password”
- 18% said, “Creating Long and Complex Passwords”
Sales professionals are taught that purchases are primarily emotional; even getting a user to engage with your brand is a sale in itself, and causing an initial negative reaction is a good way to lose it. When asked the number one reason for losing their patience online, the majority of consumers (32%) responded: “Password Resets.” An additional 28% cited CAPTCHA requirements implemented to ensure they were not bots.
All of these contributing factors point to one conclusion: passwords and similar authentication methods are wearing out their welcome among online consumers. Those with digital purchasing power are looking for easier, faster ways of proving their identity, and they already have an idea of what that looks like.
75% of Consumers Call for Passwordless
The report revealed that three-fourths (75%) of consumers felt it was important for online brands to implement passwordless authentication. Password fatigue is real, and the figures from this year’s report make it clear that an aggravating online experience can end an established brand relationship.
Passwordless means relying on mechanisms like biometric data, tokenization, a PIN, and risk-based authentication (RBA) to achieve safe online entry, rather than making up a secure word.
- Biometric data: Biometrics like fingerprints, facial structure, voice recognition, and even keystroke patterns can be used to identify a person without password usage.
- Tokenization: Tokenization trades out sensitive data for a non-sensitive digital representation of that data in the same format. Tokens used in passwordless authentication can include mobile apps, software tokens, hardware tokens, and security keys.
- PIN (Personal Identification Number): The use of a PIN adds an additional layer of security to passwordless authentication by requiring a secret numeric code in addition to something like a smart card or token.
- Risk-based authentication (RBA): RBA adjusts the login security requirements on a case-by-case basis, depending on the risk factors present at each login. Someone logging in from a country in which they do not reside or hundreds of times in the middle of the night might face additional sign-on requirements like MFA or biometrics.
The importance of a passwordless experience is so relevant to consumers today that nearly half (48%) said it would increase their brand trust if that brand offered passkeys. Passkeys are a secure and user-friendly alternative to lengthy passwords, using the cryptographic keys stored on a consumer’s device to create a frictionless login experience.
According to the same report, over 30% of respondents replied that knowing a company used passwordless authentication would make them trust that brand more with their data.
Maintaining Brand Loyalty
When nearly one in five respondents were notified of a breach of their personal information in the past year, the need for brands to definitively answer the question of consumer digital trust becomes imperative. Encouragingly, 64% indicated that their trust in a brand would increase if it adopted new and emerging technology solutions to bolster data protection – like passwordless authentication.
A complete passwordless authentication solution, is designed to:
- Incorporate the latest technologies: FIDO, hardware security keys, biometrics, and more.
- Support users across the board: employees, business partners, customers, and suppliers.
- Eliminate login frustration with a seamless, risk-based authentication approach, adaptive (use when needed) MFA, and no password resets.
Keeping brands viable in a competitive online marketplace continues to be a challenge on many levels. Forward-thinking companies will read the writing on the consumer wall and adapt to what customers want now: better trust, increased security, and more heavy lifting on the part of the organization. With a holistic approach like Thales Passwordless 360, brands can provide those benefits while letting their provider do the hard work.
