iPhone student ID launches at three universities
04 October, 2018
category: Contactless, Digital ID, Education
This week, students at the University of Alabama, Duke University and the University of Oklahoma began using an iPhone student ID as their official campus card. The new credential is stored in the Wallet app on the iPhones and Apple Watches students are already carrying on campus.
All access control, laundry, copy/print, vending, and small and large ticket purchases are mobile enabled for these campuses
The system was created jointly by Apple and campus card transaction system provider, Blackboard. The new mobile credentials allow users to conduct the full range of transactions –both on and off campus – that they previously made using an NFC-standard, contactless ID card. They authenticate, make purchases, and gain physical access to dorms, rec centers, libraries and academic buildings. All three campuses use door access readers and locks from Assa Abloy.
According to an article in CR80News, an estimated 80-90% of freshmen students arriving on the launch campuses have iPhones in hand.
“Now students can use the mobile credential everywhere that they were able to use the card yesterday,” says Jeff Staples, VP of Global Market Development at Blackboard. All access control, stored-value options, laundry, copy/print, vending, and small and large ticket purchases that support the declining balance offering are mobile enabled for these campuses.”
Using the iPhone student ID
To use the new service, students simply hold their device – an iPhone 6 or later running iOS 12 or Watch Series 1 or later running Watch OS 5 – near a capable reader to initiate an access, ID or payment transaction.
To provision the mobile ID, students launch their Blackboard eAccounts app on the device and request delivery of the credential. Once the university-branded ID has been provisioned to the student and stored in Wallet, the user is ready to conduct transactions without ever opening the app. Using Apple’s Express Mode feature, transactions can be conducted without the need to unlock the device or launch and app. A new feature on the latest iPhone XS and XR models enables transactions to be conducted even when the battery is too low to power-up the device.