Login experiences are not delivering for consumers

New research by YouGov for identity platform Auth0 finds that many businesses are falling short of consumer expectations on login technologies -- and risk frustrating their users, losing sales, and opening themselves up to credential stuffing attacks as a result.

The study shows that consumers around the world want greater choice in login technologies, and that they're willing to actively seek them out. Nearly half (49 percent) of consumers surveyed say they are more likely to sign up to an app or online service if a company offers multi-factor authentication (MFA).

In addition almost half (47 percent) are more likely to sign up if they can log in with single sign-on (SSO) -- using a single ID and password for multiple related services, this is followed closely by demand for biometrics (46 percent), social logins (37 percent), and passwordless access (34 percent).

However, most businesses don't offer these login options, despite the demand, and people's frustration with using traditional passwords. While 45 percent of businesses surveyed do offer SSO capabilities, less than a third offer MFA (28 percent), biometrics (21 percent), social logins (31 percent), or passwordless (20 percent). Across the six markets surveyed, 11 percent of the IT and marketing decision makers say they don't offer any of these technologies.

"Clearly there's a gap between consumer and business expectations, but it really comes down to convenience. Consumers want to use digital services, but if the login process is clunky or frustrating, they will take their businesses elsewhere," says Steven Rees-Pullman, SVP, international at Auth0. "With the proliferation of online threats, organizations are challenged to find the right balance between ease and security, and it's really an 'aha moment' when they realize how identity management can help."

Looked at globally, European organisations are on par with their Asia-Pacific counterparts in offering SSO for their customers, But they're behind the curve when it comes to biometric login adoption. Among UK businesses only 14 percent offer biometrics, 28 percent MFA and 13 percent passwordless.

Australian and Singaporean businesses are twice as likely to use biometric login compared to Europe, with 34 percent of IT and marketing decision makers surveyed saying their companies currently offer customers the ability to log in with biometrics, compared to Germany (17 percent), Japan (15 percent), France (14 percent), and the UK (14 percent).

"MFA and SSO are still relatively new technologies for the vast majority of organizations, and developing biometrics or passwordless is a heavy lift," adds Rees-Pullman. "With a modern identity platform, businesses can not only offer the easiest and most secure user experience possible, they can also experiment with different login options to find what works best for their audience."

The full report is available from the Auth0 site.

Image credit: AntonieGuillemF/depositphotos.com