Abstract: A mechanism and method for managing credentials on an electronic device configured with an iOS based operating system. The iOS based device includes a “keychain” configured in device memory. According to an embodiment, the electronic device comprises an application configured to generate a public certificate object in the keychain and a password object in the keychain. The public certificate object is configured to store a public certificate, and the password object is configured to store a private key. The password object further includes a label or thumbprint for associating the private key with the corresponding public certificate. According to an embodiment, the application stores the private key in an encrypted container in the password object to provide an additional layer of security. The application is configured to unlock the encrypted container utilizing a password provided the user. According to a further aspect, the user password is not stored in memory on the device.