The UK government is expanding its passkey login system across GOV.UK One Login, offering more than 23 million users the option to sign in using a fingerprint, Face ID or device PIN instead of a password and text-message code. The move follows a trial involving over 300,000 users and is aimed at cutting phishing risk while also reducing the government's spending on authentication text messages, with officials framing it as both a security upgrade and a cost-saving measure.

Nearly one in ten daily One Login sign-ins are already made via passkeys, which the government says are up to eight times faster than traditional password-and-2FA logins, and the switch is reportedly saving almost £600 a day in SMS costs. Passkeys use device-stored cryptographic credentials rather than passwords, making them harder to phish, and remain optional for now. GOV.UK One Login covers services such as State Pension checks, tax management and childcare support, with NCSC's Jonathon Ellison and Digital Government Minister Stephanie Peacock both backing the rollout as easier for users and tougher for fraudsters to exploit.