Card, mobile credential, payment and security
The student senate at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University (GVSU) is pushing the university to adopt mobile credentials. In campus ID circles, we often hear of student pressure as a driver for mobile adoption, and this is a perfect example.
Last month, the senate unanimously passed legislation asking that GVSU explore the potential for replacing the current contactless cards with mobile IDs.
Specifically, the bill says:
“Let it Be Resolved, that Grand Valley State University explores the feasibility of creating and implementing a secure digital student ID system accessible via smartphones and other devices; and Furthermore, Let it Be Resolved, that the University evaluates the costs and timeline for implementation, the infrastructure requirements for integration, necessary measures to ensure data privacy and security, and potential partnerships with technology providers.”
As with any student-driven initiative, there are many steps between a request and a reality. Still student influence is an important driver on any campus.
The bill was sponsored by the Senate’s Chief of Staff, Evan Jackson.
“Digitizing student IDs will improve convenience, accessibility and sustainability on campus,” says Jackson in a Grand Valley Lathorn article. “Students already use their phones for most daily tasks and transactions, and carrying a physical ID can be an extra hassle, especially when lost or forgotten.”
The bill’s overview of the potential benefits of mobile credentials is quite good. It aligns well with the language of industry advocates.
Examples of the reasons for implementation cited by the senate include:
“The lives of students are busy, and any way that campus can be made more convenient is something worth investing in,” says Student Senate Public Relations Chair Ty Vanlerberghe. “Students can have one less thing to juggle when attending (sporting) events, utilizing campus recreation and accessing campus dining,”
As with any student-driven initiative, there are many steps between a request and a reality. Still student influence is an important driver on any campus. This trend toward more official student pressure to consider mobile credentials, as seen at GVSU, is likely to grow.
Yale students are visualizing their on-campus dining history in a unique way thanks to a new service called Yale Hospitality Wrapped. It was created by an undergraduate computer science major and based on the incredibly popular Spotify service of the same name.
Spotify launched its Spotify Wrapped in 2016 as a tool to let users see a visual representation of their music preferences over the course of the year. It became a viral marketing phenomenon as millions shared their personal Wrapped on social media. In the years that followed, virtually every streaming service has jumped on the bandwagon and even learning sites like Duolingo have added their own annual wrap-up.
Now it’s campus dining’s turn.
He “reverse engineered” the Transact API to access the HTML data from the user’s account, synthesize the swipe data, and compute the individual account holder’s statistics.
For Yale Hospitality Wrapped, the concept is similar. Show the student when they dined, where they dined, and how often they dined.
Yale undergraduate Anish Lakkapragada created the Chrome extension that – after just one semester – is already used by more than 10% of his classmates.
“Everyone likes to compare and categorize,” he says. “We have things like chicken tender Tuesday and all these traditions, so people want to see how much they go.”
Lakkapragada uses the meal swipe data from Yale’s Transact Campus system to build the users’ dining hall wraps.
He “reverse engineered” the Transact API to access the HTML data from the user’s account, so it grabs the HTML pages, synthesizes the swipe data, and computes the individual account holder’s statistics.
When a student installs the Yale Hospitality Wrapped Chrome Extension, they click the button saying add to Chrome, and it automatically takes them to Yale’s central authentication page where they enter their NetID and password. Once signed in, the extension does the rest.
Campus card and transaction systems hold many more data points beyond meal swipes, and Lakkapragada is eager to explore other areas. Stored value, access control, and rec center transactions are of specific interest.
Currently, Wrapped is available for the fall 2024 semester, but it will be changed to analyze spring 2025 meal swipes at the end of the semester. Though it would not be true to the year-end concept of a typical wrapped, he says the extension could be modified to allow users to set their own timelines.
Lakkapragada has already expanded the dining hall wrapped to another major university, and he emphatically says he’d welcome others to get on board.
Until he built Wrapped, he says he really did not know about his dining usage.
He found he used 156 meals wipes during the semester, averaging 1.5 meals per day. He believes that he, like so many students, under-utilize their meal plans, and Yale Hospitality Wrapped could help them better take advantage of it.
“I pay for three meals wipes per day, but obviously, I'm a student and I’m not waking up for breakfast,” he jokes.
Yale Hospitality Wrapped screenshot
One of the extension’s most popular data points is the diversity score. It is calculated based on the number of dining locations a student visits during the term. If you frequented every location, you’d attain the maximum scored of 100, but if you ate at the closest dining hall for every meal, you score would be zero.
Student are using social media to share and compare diversity scores. Lakkapragada hopes this aspect will encourage students to explore other dining options on campus.
This could be a great benefit to dining services as well.
“We actually did speak with Yale Hospitality about the project, and they were excited and supportive,” he says. “They were surprised and receptive to it.”
Today, the data is disparate and tied only to each unique user. Anonymously aggregating the results across all the participants, however, could give a very different and interesting perspective.
Anish Lakkapragada, Developer of Yale Hospitality Wrapped
Lakkapragada says that is one of the reasons he would like to advance the project from a Chrome extension to a web app. As a website, there would be more flexibility to aggregate data, expand functionality, and include other campuses.
“If any other university that uses Transact is interested – a student, an administrator, a Transact Campus developer – I'm more than receptive to sharing code,” he says.
Why did he do it?
“Creating software is one of my favorite pastimes, and I like seeing my stuff being used on someone else's computer,” he says. “I always feel really happy.”
Anish Lakkapragada is a first-year undergraduate at Yale University double majoring in computer science and mathematics. He encourages anyone interested in contributing to the project or bringing a dining hall wrapped to their campus, to contact him at anish.lakkapragada@yale.edu.
The Modern Campus – Solving Identity Challenges in Higher Education is the title for an upcoming 30-minute webinar with ColorID. The event will take place on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm EDT.
The event is billed as a “comprehensive approach to credential and identity management that addresses the evolving challenges in the higher education market.”
The desire for flexibility and interoperability is driving institutions to reconsider traditional approaches to identity management. This includes rethinking the systems of record that control identity data and the ownership of these systems.
The desire for flexibility and interoperability is driving institutions to reconsider traditional approaches to identity management. This includes rethinking the systems of record that control identity data and the ownership of these systems.
This 30-minute session is intended to help identify these challenges and present options for implementing future-ready solutions.
Topics include:
According to ColorID, the event is designed for campus card managers, IT and security professionals, identity and access management teams, and business and operations leaders.
Presenters include ColorID owner Danny Smith and the company’s director of product management David Stallsmith.
Register Now
At the 2025 Transact 360 event, the annual Transact Distinction Awards were presented to a series of campuses and partners that raised the bar. This year’s program celebrated eight institutions for their forward-thinking initiatives that improve the student experience and drive operational efficiencies.
This award honors institutions that have used technology to markedly improve the student experience in areas such as recruitment, engagement, and retention.
Doane University
In under two years, they implemented Transact TSE, Mobile Credential, Instant ID, Cloud POS, Mobile Ordering, Luxer One Lockers, and LenelS2 Door Access. They equipped all residence halls hundreds of wireless locks.
Wayne State University
As a Sponsor Payments BETA client, they provide vital feedback to help shape future enhancements of Transact payment products. Their ePayment portal is recognized as a model for other institutions.
Wingate University
In two years, they transformed student onboarding with TSE, Online Photo, Instant ID, Mobile Credential, and S2 door access with ACI. Cloud POS and Mobile Ordering streamlined meal plans and payments.
The award honors new Transact a client who has transformed their campus via Transact products and services.
Southwestern Oregon Community College
While deploying multiple Transact solutions –Cashiering, ePayment, ERP integration – their commitment to collaboration ensured seamless implementations and set a new standard for client engagement and success.
University of Mount Olive
In a single semester, they deployed Cloud POS, Mobile Credential, eAccounts, and Online Photo Submission. Their outstanding execution of the TSE and Mobile Credential projects stands as a model for future implementations.
This award recognizes a campus that achieves widespread adoption of technologies that improve student experiences, administrative workflows, or institutional intelligence.
University of Alabama
Their Graduate Commemorative Card is a $50 keepsake for graduates that features the UA seal and graduate details. It helps offsets revenue lost from digital credentials and fosters alumni connections.
The award honors an institution that effectively used a marketing to enhance the visibility and value of campus credentials and payment solutions.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Innovative marketing strategies drove significant adoption of the Transact Mobile Ordering App. QR code-tagged water bottles promoted the app during move-in, while a referral campaign and student rewards boosted engagement.
Three vendor partner awards were also presented. The Partner of the Year award was presented to Ellucian, the Excellence in Partnership award went to Progressive Technologies, and USEFULL won the Partner Innovation award.
Brigham Young University’s robust security program includes 25 officers, 15 supervisors, and 400 academy-trained student employees. To better coordinate these departments, BYU wanted a solution that would unify operations and improve efficiency. They selected Genetec's Operations Center, a solution for designed for security that is built into Genetec’s Security Center SaaS offering.
BYU already used Genetec’s Security Center, so the integration made sense.
The addition of Operations Center has helped consolidate tasks into a single system, replacing disconnected tools and manual processes while improving visibility across the enterprise.
Before you had to be listening over the radio and paying mental attention, but now we are keeping track of our officers better. They are also able to keep track of where they and their fellow officers need to be.
It’s enabled BYU to automate key processes such as nightly checks, equipment inspections, and building audits. These tasks are now scheduled and managed automatically, reducing workload on dispatchers as well as the potential for error.
As an example, every night BYU conducts code four checks with different divisions on campus.
“Before the dispatcher had to manually enter that call and remember to check with each individual division, whereas now it automatically creates that card,” says Joshua Frizell, Student Manager, BYU Security. “Same thing can be done for equipment checks, building inspections, any sort of process that can be automated.”
The mobile app enhances situational awareness for field officers, providing real-time updates on assignments and facilitating compliance with operational procedures.
“It allows us to keep track of officer locations,” explains Kaemon Cole, Student Manager, BYU Security. “Before you had to be listening over the radio and paying mental attention, but (now) we are keeping track of our officers better, and they are able to keep track of where they and their fellow officers need to be.”
BYU also uses Operations Center to:
Genetec’s Operations Center allows BYU to customize workflows and reports for each department’s specific needs. From tracking officer locations to managing inventory and generating incident reports, the platform adapts to support the university’s diverse security teams.
BYU reports that it is now better able to coordinate security efforts. Communication and data sharing is enhanced, and automation of routine processes is freeing teams to focus on higher-priority responsibilities.
Smart lockers are a growing trend on higher ed campuses, but other markets are also getting on board. It is often beneficial to look to other use cases to spark ideas for your own applications, and the efforts of a Minnesota public library system is a perfect example.
The use of smart lockers for distribution of library materials is not entirely new to higher ed, but what about extending the convenience to locations in the community?
That is what the Washington County Free Library (WCFL) did when they expanded their smart locker network to include new locations at local shopping centers.
The lesson for campuses is that they evaluated where and when their customers wanted service, and it was not between 9 am and 6 pm at a building across town.
The shopping center locations complement the four existing locker installations at library branches, further enhancing patrons' ability to access materials beyond traditional library hours. A book return box is also available at each of the six locker sites, providing a streamlined borrowing and return process.
Many of today’s library users, like any other service users, are looking for convenience and speed. The smart locker system allows them to retrieve reserved books and materials at any time, day or night, without stepping foot in the building or waiting in line.
Users reserve materials through the library’s online catalog and select their preferred pickup location. Library staff then delivers the reserved materials to the lockers.
Next, the patron receives an automated notification that the pick-up is ready. At the locker, they scan their library ID card, and the locker containing their materials opens.
"We are always looking for innovative ways to serve our community better," says Jenny Bakos, Executive Director of WCFL. "With the expansion of our smart locker system, we are extending our reach beyond traditional operating hours, ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need, whenever they need them."
WCFL’s smart lockers feature touchscreen interfaces, secure compartments, and real-time notifications. The library says the initiative aligns with their strategy to leverage technology to enhance service delivery and accommodate the needs of busy individuals and families.
Common applications for smart lockers in higher ed include food pickup; mail and parcel delivery; lab equipment borrowing; and course and library materials checkout.
These lockers are typically positioned at or near the service initiation point, such as the library or dining hall. Though rare, in certain cases like parcel delivery, lockers may be extended to residence halls or central gathering points.
Parcel pickup could be extended into the community at off-campus residence buildings and other locations frequented by students.
The interesting point from WCFL’s use is that they evaluated their customer needs. They saw where and when they wanted service, and it was not always between 9 am and 6 pm at a building across town.
They took lockers to shopping centers and thus took their services to their patrons.
How could this concept be extended to higher ed?
In each scenario, the campus card or mobile credential could be the key to opening the locker.
Making products and services more accessible increases sales and makes for happier customers. Of course, the ROI on the lockers must be considered as well as the staffing cost to deliver product to the field. Modern consumers, however, have demonstrated willingness to pay for convenience, so there are many ways to make a smart locker program profitable.
The current state of campus access control was the focus of a joint panel discussion with members of the Northeast Colleges and Universities Security Association (NECUSA) and NACCU. Topics surrounded reporting structures, obstacles, investments, lockdowns, and plans for access control on campus.
Panelists included leading institutions in the Northeast:
John Ogle, NACCU’s Membership Experience and Education Director, moderated the event. Panelists provided their perspective on the topics below. Ideas from one of the speakers is highlighted following each topic.
The full session is time well spent, but the time codes for each topic are provided below if you want to skip to specific topics.
Meghan Rosenberg, Associate Director of OneCard & Parking Management Services, Babson College, Wellesley, MA
Our office falls directly under Public Safety, so I'm a direct report to the Chief of Police. We use C-Cure for our access control system, and we currently have magstripe and prox credentials.
All of our residential buildings are card access, and we are in the process of adding card readers to all exterior doors on our administrative buildings as well. We're hoping to wrap that up by January 2026. We are hoping also to transition to mobile credentials within the next two years.
Patricia Groeber, Associate Director of Public Safety, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY
Access control falls fully under public safety along with the monitoring of alarm systems – so we make the access control decisions. We work closely with our card office who does the issuing of cards, but we do all the programming and decision making on that front.
Our fiscal plan assists us with repairs, and while we consult student life and the building coordinators for basic decision making and policy setting, we have a pretty strict control of all systems. No one else can alter access.
We use a contractor to manage major projects. It handles our access control panels, our readers, and other infrastructure when we go into big building projects.
Stephen Donnelly, Manager of ID & Access Control, Yale University, New Haven, CT
We've had access control for a long time, and upgrades have come incrementally. So we have a mixed bag of modern and older technology in terms of readers on the walls, which is probably the most expensive part of all this.
Instead of Yale owning the building they're leasing out large office buildings. Synchronizing how the access works across systems is a challenge.
In terms of challenges with access control, I'd say a lot of our challenges internally come from conferences and events as well visitors, and managing how they get access and what the rules are for that.
The other big thing I'm dealing with is the trend toward using leased properties. Instead of Yale owning the building they're leasing out large office buildings. There's a different building management company and synchronizing how the access works across systems is a challenge.
I'm dealing with three different buildings coming online right now in that situation and it's something I don't hear a lot of people talk about.
Tim Munro, Director of Campus Safety, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
I'll say we've only practiced lockdowns. We haven't had to do it yet, but we can, in theory, lock down every building with an access system on it, which is 90% of our campus right now.
Our plan right now is to lock the exterior doors only. We have the ability to lock the interior doors if they have access control on them, but we are electing not to do that right now.
We can do that relatively quickly. We've practiced it a bunch of times. The campus safety officer on the desk has the authority to institute a lockdown. No requirement of getting approval. That's written into our procedures, which I was very thankful to have.
Cesar Robles, Director of Technology for Campus Safety, Mercy University, Dobbs Ferry, NY
We are an open campus. We know that we can't prevent everyone from coming on campus, so at least let's focus on the individuals that are coming in with vehicles.
We go back to the system and pull the license plates and then continue the investigation with our surveillance system to identify the individual.
We implemented video at the gate, and it’s worked tremendously for us. For every vehicle that comes on campus, the license plates are scanned, access is provided with those scans.
We have cameras at the gate house, so any issues that we had we were able to solve. We could go right back to the system and pull the license plates and then continue the investigation with our surveillance system to find out who that person was. It's been a tremendous help.
We have a project going on right now in one of our dorms where we're adding turnstiles, because although we had readers on the doors, we had people piggybacking when someone swipes in.
To access the recorded version of the discussion, click on the image at the top of this page.
This is an example of the unique educational opportunities provided to NACCU members. Please consider becoming a member of the only association dedicated to serving professionals who manage campus identification programs on higher education campuses.
With an enrollment of more than 3,200 students, Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) faced significant challenges with its outdated card and physical security systems. The door access solution had reached end-of-life, and their manual card production process was time-consuming and inefficient.
Students had to wait in long lines for manual ID processing, taking photos, and printing their TigerOne cards.
NEMCC wanted to integrate the ID and door access systems to remove friction for students entering campus buildings while reducing administrative burdens. They sought an integrated, cloud-enabled solution.
“We were looking for something that was robust in terms of what it could do, but also something that we could implement over time,” says Chris Murphy, NEMCC’s Vice President of Finance.
As an existing client of Transact Integrated Payments, they evaluated the company’s other solutions and found they could be an ideal fit.
NEMCC adopted Transact IDX, Transact Door Access Control and Security, and Transact Online Photo Submission.
We were looking for something that was robust in terms of what it could do, but also something that we could implement over time.
These solutions helped improve efficiency and create a contactless, mobile-friendly campus experience. The transition to a cloud-based system reduced the workload for the small IT staff, eliminating the need for manual maintenance and hardware support.
“Before Transact IDX, the main pain point was in our housing office where they generated the ID cards,” says Mark Nichols, Director of Information Technology, NEMCC. “The old system was forcing students to come in to take photos.”
Today, students upload their ID photos anytime and from anywhere.
The business office also benefited from the upgrade. Previously, students had to visit the office to check their Tiger Bucks flex account balances. Now, they view their balances and add funds directly from their mobile devices.
NEMCC is preparing to launch mobile credentials, making it one of the first institutions in Mississippi and one of the first community colleges to introduce the NFC-enabled mobile IDs.
According to Murphy, the college leadership was inspired by a video case study of another institution successfully using this technology. This prompted them to pursue the upgrade.
The launch is planned 2025 at which time students will be able to store their TigerOne ID in their digital wallets. At the same time, administrators will gain enhanced tools to track and control access, reinforcing campus security.
Overall, Nichols says the adoption of Transact solutions has led to a more efficient, modernized student ID system. It has enhanced security, improved administrative workflows, and provided students with a seamless, contactless ID experience.
Community colleges serve nearly one-third of all undergraduates in the US, but ID and payment technology at two-year institutions has lagged traditional colleges and universities.
One of the key challenges facing community colleges is delivering a seamless digital experience to diverse student populations. To address this, institutions are adopting mobile platforms and integrated systems to enable students to access resources whenever and wherever they need them.
A recent article from TouchNet explores how community colleges are implementing innovative technologies to improve student services.
At Portland Community College a virtual one-stop shop consolidates multiple student services into one online location. This provides expanded self-service options and easier access to customer support.
The college tracks the type and volume of delivered services, using the data to inform staffing schedules to ensure that students receive the support they need.
In addition to enhancing student services, they are simplifying payment solutions to support student success.
Frederick Simmons, Student Account Services Manager at Portland Community College, discussed his work to improve customer service and student success in a recent podcast. It’s a model to which any card office or auxiliary service unit could aspire.
Portland Community College migrated the one-stop shop concept from a physical environment to a virtual realm.
Its Zoom Room concept brings together siloed services and creates a single point for student services and customer support. Students log in remotely to access various services, such as payment plans, tuition refunds, and account management all in one place. Students can access the services they need without having to physically visit the campus.
It enables staff to warm transfer students to other departments, reducing the need for students to repeat information and improving the overall experience.
The Zoom Room is available Monday through Thursday from 9am to 5pm, and on Fridays, staff are fully remote but still available through Zoom or chat. The flexibility of the Zoom Room has been well-received by students and staff alike, allowing for a more flexible schedule and improved work-life balance.
The online service customer support center also allows students to manage their accounts, access auxiliary services, and make payments online. This helps both Zoom Room users and those that choose to visit offices by reducing in-person wait times.
The college tracks the type and volume of delivered services, using the data to inform staffing schedules to ensure that students receive the support they need.
Simmons says the Zoom Room has been a game-changer for Portland Community College, providing a more streamlined and student-centered approach to student services.
In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Danny Smith, co-founder and co-owner of Color D, announces the company’s acquisition of CardExchange, a long-time partner in identity and credential management solutions. Smith describes that the move is intended to increase ColorID’s ability to offer more integrated and flexible identity management systems for higher ed and other markets.
For more than 20 years, CardExchange has been a key partner in developing sophisticated, custom identity solutions, helping ColorID implement complex credentialing projects. The acquisition cements their long-standing collaboration, enabling a more seamless approach to providing cloud-based identity solutions.
A major focus of the acquisition is CardExchange’s cloud platform, which has been in development for the past four to five years. This system allows institutions to manage credentials across different modalities—physical, mobile, and biometric—while integrating with multiple third-party applications and access control systems.
With the acquisition, Smith says ColorID will be able to provide universities with greater control over their identity infrastructure. Traditionally, identity management has been tied to one-card system or physical access control (PAC) platforms. He argues, however, that universities should own and manage their own identity ecosystems.
This would allow them to switch service providers or integrate new technologies without being locked into a single vendor. The CardExchange acquisition, Smith says, enables ColorID to deliver an agnostic integration platform, helping institutions centralize identity management while maintaining interoperability with existing systems.
One of the most notable applications of CardExchange’s solutions is the NYU project, where the platform was used to unify credentialing across 14 global campuses. The success of this implementation demonstrates the scalability and adaptability of CardExchange’s technology.
Listen to the full interview, by clicking the image at the top of this page.
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