Businesses could learn a lot from campus card programs
23 September, 2010
category: Contactless, Education, Government
“Colleges and universities are leading the way with multiple-use contactless ID cards that contain several applications, and the broader community could learn a lot from them,” said Jim Ellis, director of Contactless Payments at HID Global.
Higher education institutions utilize contactless technology to perform multiple functions for students, faculty and staff including: physical access to classrooms and residence halls, library checkout, transportation, food services and vending, as well as debit card transactions in partnership with financial institutions.
“Using the college campus as a paradigm, other communities – including cities, corporations and government entities – could benefit from converging applications via multi-use smart cards, ” explained Ellis. “A single card could change the way a customer or employee access and pay for products and services. The result is smoother flows of people and vehicles, shorter queues and faster, more intuitive transactions.”
Ellis added, “Reaching the full potential of smart card technology requires cooperation between multiple entities on key operational matters – not always an easy task. Transit authorities, banks, credit card companies and retailers who wish to engage in a partnership can struggle with agreements on technology choices, rules for payment schemes, administration and costs.”
“Still, the fact remains that there are some great business reasons for companies and organizations to seek out partnerships. A bank that partners with a transit authority to make purchasing a metro ticket as easy as carrying an ATM card, has the opportunity to reinforce its brand to transit customers on a constant basis,” continued Ellis. “Multi-use smart cards can also define loyal, active members of their respective business and municipal communities. Consumers win through streamlined access to services they use every day, and businesses gain customer loyalty and a greater share of each customer’s spending.”
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