Visa, ISG bring passkey card authentication to five Indian issuers

Visa and Mumbai-based payments technology provider In-Solutions Global have announced a Payment Passkey implementation involving five Indian banks, allowing eligible cardholders to authenticate online and in-app payments through a device biometric or PIN rather than entering an SMS one-time password.

ISG named Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank and Indian Bank as participating issuers. It said the capabilities it highlighted at Global Fintech Fest 2026 were either live or in confirmed delivery, but did not specify the status of each bank.

Visa's developer documentation describes Visa Payment Passkey as a FIDO-based authentication system for card-not-present payments. It binds a payment credential to a consumer device and uses the device's unlock method, with the private authentication key remaining on the user's device. Visa's current developer availability matrix lists Payment Passkey as available in India.

The change matters because SMS OTP has been the dominant additional authentication method for Indian digital payments. In 2024, the Reserve Bank of India said the ecosystem had primarily adopted SMS OTP even though it had not prescribed a specific authentication factor, and released a draft framework intended to widen the choice of authentication mechanisms. That 2024 document was a draft and should not be presented as the current final rule.

ISG said the passkey capability is being integrated with its issuing and acquiring infrastructure. Claims that the system will increase authentication success, reduce fraud or reduce checkout abandonment remain vendor claims unless measured results are supplied.