How the passwordless revolution will ignite a customer experience upgrade

by Jasie Fon, Regional VP of Asia, Ping Identity

Source: Ping Identity.
Fon.

When one talks about Singapore's remarkable digital transformation journey, the country's National Digital Identity (NDI) Initiative - featuring Singpass - immediately springs to mind. Singpass is a cutting- edge platform that enables citizens, residents and businesses to transact with the government and private service providers. It allows them to access government and business services through a single login, using methods like fingerprints, facial verification, multi-user SMS two-factor authentication (2FA), and SMS one-time passwords (OTPs).

These not only provide additional security for users’ personal data but also give them a diversity of choices to best fit their needs. This kind of adaptable seamlessness is the future of customer experience (CX). According to ZenDesk, about 70% of brands recognise a direct correlation between CX and performance.

In addition to immediate financial gains, a positive customer experience encourages long-term customer loyalty and burnishes a brand. A Salesforce report found that 88% of consumers believe experience is just as important as a company's products or services.  

Since logging in and logging out are pivotal in shaping digital experiences, passwords stand at the core of this process. Verizon, for example, notes that 80% of breaches involve brute force attacks or the use of lost or stolen credentials. Moreover, creating and keeping track of numerous different passwords can be a huge annoyance for consumers. Meanwhile, for organisations, passwords can be potential conduits for data breaches, which an IBM report said rose to an average of US$4.45 M last year.

With spending on CX technologies in the Asia Pacific region expected to reach US$43.8 M by 2027, with a CAGR of 6.9% in 2027, secure and frictionless digital identity management will be ciritical to the delivery of enhanced customer experiences. In a recent Ping Identity survey, 81% of consumers said ease-of-use is important when interacting with brands online. In view of this, CX leaders should start putting easy-to-use and secure login methods at the forefront.

The login experience is absolutely critical to customer loyalty as it often represents the first impression of the brand. Organisations should do all they can to avoid frustrating customers with clunky login experiences – especially relating to forgotten or reset passwords. Research indicates that 60% of customers have switched brands as a result of such frustrations. Additionally, around 65% of consumers who stopped using an online service due to feelings of anger state that they would readily switch to a comparable brand if it offered a passwordless authentication method.

This suggests that consumers are willing to abandon traditional passwords and the inconvenience they cause altogether. It’s therefore crucial for organisations to start adopting passwordless authentication to hold on to their customers and gain new ones amid these rising expectations.

Going passwordless may solve many ongoing challenges for today’s users. For instance, nearly three- quarters of consumers told Ping Identity they believed their passwords were safe, yet only use three unique passwords across multiple logins, with 12% using the same password for everything. Significantly, 59% of consumers indicated that they primarily stored passwords by memorising them, while 54% acknowledged having too many passwords to manage.

The good news is that one-third (34%) of consumers are open to using a passwordless login option if it were as or more secure than using a traditional password.

Ultimately, the goal for organisations is to strike the perfect balance between mitigating risk and delivering a positive customer experience. Embracing modern authentication and passwordless methods will enable organisations to strengthen their secure posture and ensure consumers have a more seamless and secure digital future.