Campus Cards, College and University Identification and Security
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Blackboard announces contactless campus card system

Friday, March 5, 2010

Blackboard announced the availability of Release 3.6 of Blackboard Transact, and with it the introduction of a contactless campus system that aims to make the student experience both convenient and secure.

Utilizing Sony’s Felica technology, Blackboard Transact permits equipped cards and mobile phones to make payment and grant entry with a wave or a tap. Students can get into secure buildings and facilities, pay for books, meals and laundry and even access campus events.


The Blackboard Transact platform allows cashless on- and off-campus payment capabilities for a plethora of services, all while securely managing campus activities with integrated door access controls.

With the release of Blackboard Transact 3.6, the company also introduced a new contactless card reader, the model VR4100 contactless vending reader. The reader supports Bluetooth and full video playback, allowing for video advertising, alerts and notifications and other special messages on a full color touch screen. [end] 

On Track Innovations has received a U.S. patent for adding contactless capability to existing mobile handsets through contactless SIM technology.

U.S. Patent No. 8,090,407, aka “Contactless Smart SIM,” covers the capabilities necessary to turn existing mobile handsets into NFC-enabled devices through the use of a SIM card and a specifically designed antenna, all while keeping the phone and operating system “fully agnostic,” says OTI.

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German bank, Sparkasse will pilot contactless payments for its bank credit card users, reports Venture Village.

Locations in Hannover, Braunschweig and Wolfsburg will be some of the first for the trial, which begins in April. More than 1.3 million customers will receive the new bank cards complete with contactless functionality.

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Missouri State University in Springfield is rolling out its new Bear Pass, a student ID card that also provides door access and debit card functionality. The purpose behind the new card is to make the campus safer while keeping a student’s information secure, according to school officials.

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Superdrug, one of Britain’s largest beauty and health retailers, has introduced contactless payment for its in-store customers, according to Retail Gazette.

Created by Streamline and Visa Europe, the contactless system will enable customers to make payments of up to £15 (approx. USD $23) by simply waving their contactless bank card at the more than 50 participating Superdrug stores in London and Liverpool.

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A new survey from Euro Kartensysteme shows that Germans are starting to embrace the idea of contactless and NFC payments.

Out of 1,040 Germans aged 18-59, 43% responded that they would like to make contactless payments if given the opportunity, of which 58% percent would make their payments with a debit card card, 41% with a credit card and 50% with an NFC phone.

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A recent survey conducted by Wincor Nixdorf shows that a strong majority of French consumers are interested in using fingerprint scanning technology to secure transactions.

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