Just absurd.
Or google. If you use android and chrome then it all just works.
But god help you if you want to use a password manager to keep everything in sync; I haven't yet found a way for a mobile app or web page to explicitly signal to the device that the passkey to be created should live in $password_manager and not whatever built-in/on-device key-store exists.
So I only really use pass keys for desktop/web things because that's the only place the "store/read from $password_manager" flow _works_.
On Android 17 (on Pixel) you can select the password service under Settings -> Passwords and passkeys -> Preferred service.
If you have an alternative password manager installed, it will be listed there along with Google's own password manager. iOS has a similar setting but I don't know exactly where off the top of my head.
I have this set to my password manager but I still can't _use_ the pass-keys in my password manager to sign in to most apps.
Setting your preferred password/passkey manager on Android 17 to 1Password works fine in Chrome and Firefox to log in to any site, presenting passkeys managed in 1Password. It also works in all of Meta's native apps. (I'm pretty sure it works the same in Bitwarden.)
Whatever issue you're having, it's not an inherent limitation of Android passkeys. It might be a bug in your passkey manager…?
So yeah, this is cross platform on iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
If you lose your bank passkey, (e.g. if you put it in the wrong password manager and you can't figure out where it is) you can just sign in with your bank password.
In the worst case, banks actually don't make it very hard for seniors to reset your password/passkey; just show up at a branch with photo ID, your bank card, and your PIN, and a teller will help you reset your credentials. They do it all the time.
And, remember, seniors could also put a randomly generated password into the wrong password manager. In that case, they'll either have to reset their password, or they'll have figure out what they did, retrieve their password from the OS password manager, and transfer that password to their preferred password manager.
The exact same story applies to passkeys, except, because passkeys can't be copied and pasted, you'd have to figure out how to use the finicky app-to-app transfer system ("Credential Exchange Protocol"). That's probably too complicated for most seniors, so falling back to a password is almost certainly their best bet.
Maybe... I just ran into an annoying scenario where the largest bank in Canada made an administrative error where they mislinked an account belonging to me to my wife's profile.
I went to a physical branch to get it fixed and was told that branches don't have that kind of ability so I'd have to call customer support.
I called customer support and failed the verification questions because the expected answers were wrong, based on their own clerical error. After failing the verification questions, I just got a "we have to end this call, no additional information can be provided, please visit a branch."
I was able to get around it by calling back in and providing the incorrect, but expected answers to pass the verification step - I imagine, however, that this could have turned into a real nightmare for seniors, or anyone who wasn't able to deduce what the expected verification answers were.
You forgot about the endless frustration and annoyance.
What are the branches even for if not customer support?
Lots of physical locations make the bank seem big/safe/reputable.
Beyond that, it's sales and a place to have ATMs. I have sometimes been able to get a replacement card issued at a branch instead of waiting for one to show up in the mail.
Some branches will accommodate special requests like "can I withdraw $200... in two dollar bills" / take coin deposits but that's been increasingly rare.
In the UK at least, there are very few brick & mortar branches anymore - banks expect everything to be done online.
You can click "try another way" and use your password, and then you'll have access to your bank. But then, you should try to resolve that problem. If you (or a trusted friend/family member) can figure out how to use settings to remove the passkey from your bank's account settings, you can do that, or you can ask a bank teller to help you, instead.
(And, luckily, you won't need a bank teller, because you'll still have access to your account.)
At virtually all banks, the bank tellers cannot help you with login problems. You will have to call the bank's tech support and somehow navigate AI-modulated phone menu hell.
I don't have a citation for you just recent experience, do you have a citation?
My credit union has people who can help with any online banking/website login issues. They aren't tellers, but they are there. You just need to ask to speak to a customer service rep.