You're not moving to passwordless authentication because it's trendy. You're doing it because your current authentication stack can't keep up with AI-driven fraud tactics. Javelin's research shows a 90% increase in identity fraud losses between 2023 and 2024, and around 60% of financial institutions report rising fraud over the past year.
This checklist guides you through what needs to be in place before deploying passkeys or other passwordless methods. Each item has a clear done/not-done state. Use this to assess your readiness and identify gaps before committing resources.
What This Checklist Covers
This is a pre-deployment readiness assessment for passwordless authentication systems. It covers infrastructure prerequisites, authentication policy alignment, consumer education frameworks, and operational readiness. It doesn't cover vendor selection or detailed cryptographic architecture, those come after confirming you can support passwordless methods at scale.
Prerequisites
Before you start the checklist, confirm:
- You have executive sponsorship and a documented business case for moving beyond passwords.
- Your fraud analytics team has quantified current account takeover and new account fraud losses.
- You've identified which user journeys will transition first (wire initiation, ACH setup, account recovery).
- You have access to your current MFA deployment metrics and failure rates.
Checklist Items
1. Authentication Policy Baseline
Document your current authentication requirements across all channels (web, mobile, call center, branch). Include what constitutes step-up authentication and when it's triggered.
Done looks like: A matrix showing authentication method by channel and risk level, with current MFA adoption rates and fallback procedures documented.
2. Zero-Trust Architecture Assessment
Evaluate whether your systems assume trust based on network location, device, or session state. Passwordless authentication works in zero-trust environments where every request requires cryptographic proof.
Done looks like: Network segmentation maps showing no implicit trust zones, and session management policies that don't extend authentication beyond a single transaction without re-verification.
3. Passkey Storage and Recovery Framework
Define where passkeys will be stored (device secure element, hardware token, cloud keychain) and how users recover access if they lose their primary authenticator. This isn't the same as password reset, you can't email a passkey.
Done looks like: Recovery workflows documented for each user segment, with clear escalation paths that don't reintroduce password-equivalent vulnerabilities. Good recovery lets a user prove identity through multiple independent factors without reverting to knowledge-based questions.
4. Consumer Education and Messaging Strategy
Build materials explaining why you're removing passwords and what users need to do. Skip the "passwords are weak" lecture, show concrete examples of how account takeover happens and what passwordless authentication prevents.
Done looks like: Segmented communication plans for different user groups (high-net-worth, small business, retail), with in-app tutorials, FAQs addressing "what if I lose my phone," and metrics for measuring comprehension (not just views).
5. Fraud Detection Rule Adjustments
Review your transaction monitoring and behavioral analytics rules. Passwordless authentication changes how you detect anomalies, you're no longer tracking failed login attempts or password reset frequency.
Done looks like: Updated fraud rules that flag cryptographic authentication failures, device binding changes, or passkey registration spikes. Your fraud team should be able to distinguish between legitimate passkey adoption and an attacker attempting to register new credentials.
6. Legacy System Compatibility
Identify systems that can't support modern authentication protocols (FIDO2, WebAuthn). Your core banking platform, card management system, and wire transfer approval workflows all need to accept cryptographic assertions instead of shared secrets.
Done looks like: An inventory of systems with authentication dependencies, API capability assessments, and a migration timeline for systems that need middleware or replacement. If a critical system can't support passwordless methods, you need a containment strategy, not a workaround that undermines the entire effort.
7. Call Center and Branch Procedures
Define how staff authenticate users who can't access their passkey. This is where passwordless implementations often fail, you build a strong digital authentication layer, then leave a wide-open phone channel.
Done looks like: Updated procedures that don't fall back to knowledge-based authentication. Consider requiring in-person identity verification with government-issued ID for passkey recovery, or implement callback verification to registered phone numbers with additional controls.
8. Compliance and Audit Documentation
Align your passwordless approach with regulatory expectations around customer authentication, particularly if you're subject to strong customer authentication requirements or need to demonstrate compliance with authentication controls under your examination schedule.
Done looks like: Documented mapping of passkey implementation to applicable requirements, with evidence that cryptographic authentication meets or exceeds current MFA standards. Your auditors should see this as a control enhancement, not a new risk.
Common Mistakes
Treating passkeys as a direct password replacement. Passwords are shared secrets; passkeys are cryptographic key pairs. You can't just swap one for the other without changing how you handle session management, account recovery, and fraud detection.
Skipping the recovery workflow. Users will lose devices. If your recovery process requires them to visit a branch or wait 72 hours, adoption will stall. If your recovery process is too easy, you've just moved the vulnerability from passwords to recovery.
Assuming consumer understanding. Most users don't know what a passkey is. If your rollout depends on them reading a help article, you're going to see support volume spike and adoption rates drop.
Ignoring the fraud detection gap. You're removing signals your fraud team currently uses (failed login attempts, password reset patterns). Replace them before you deploy, or you'll be flying blind during the transition.
Next Steps
Score your readiness: if you can't mark items 1, 2, 3, and 6 as done, you're not ready to deploy passwordless authentication. Start there.
If you've cleared the prerequisites, your next move is pilot selection. Choose a user segment with high fraud exposure and strong digital engagement, not your entire customer base. Run the pilot long enough to capture account recovery scenarios and measure fraud impact, not just login success rates.
Amazon plans to go entirely passwordless by 2030. eBay has been using passkeys for years. You don't need to match their timeline, but you do need a plan that acknowledges passwords aren't holding up against current fraud tactics.
