Glossary
The FIDO Alliance (Fast IDentity Online) is an open industry association that develops and promotes authentication standards (including FIDO2 and passkeys) to reduce the world’s reliance on passwords. Its members include the major platform and technology companies whose backing turned passwordless from a niche idea into a mainstream reality.
The Alliance matters because authentication standards only work if everyone implements them the same way. A credential is portable and interoperable precisely because Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others agreed on a shared specification through the FIDO Alliance rather than each building an incompatible system.
Because the Alliance sets the direction of passwordless, vendors on its board are shaping the standards, not just consuming them. Transmit Security sits on the FIDO Alliance board as part of its long-running push to eliminate passwords, a position that reflects how central FIDO-based authentication is to modern CIAM.
The Alliance’s work is the reason passkeys "just work" across an iPhone, an Android phone, and a Windows laptop. Without a shared standard and certification program, each platform would have its own incompatible scheme, and the seamless cross-device experience that made passkeys viable wouldn’t exist. For a business adopting passkeys, that interoperability is the practical payoff: build to the FIDO/WebAuthn standard once, and it works across the ecosystem, today and as new devices arrive. It also future-proofs the investment, aligning to an open, industry-governed standard avoids lock-in to any single vendor’s proprietary authentication.
What does FIDO stand for?
Fast IDentity Online.
What does the FIDO Alliance do?
It develops open authentication standards (FIDO2, passkeys), certifies conforming products, and drives industry adoption.
Who are its members?
Major technology, platform, and financial companies, including the large consumer-platform vendors behind passkeys.
Related: FIDO2 · Passkeys · WebAuthn · Passwordless Authentication
