Campus Cards, College and University Identification and Security

Missouri State chooses Blackboard for NFC-based contactless card system

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Missouri State University has selected Blackboard Transact to implement a contactless student ID card. This enables the new system to integrate student identification, door security, commerce and campus payment into a single contactless card.

The new BearPass ID card uses Sony’s FeliCa contactless technology and works with Blackboard-enabled smart card readers–which also support magnetic stripe technology–for faster and more secure transactions.


More than 25,000 students, faculty and administrators will now be able to pay for purchases and enter buildings with a tap of their ID card.

Students can add money to their student ID account, view transactions online, immediately stop activity on their account if their card is lost or stolen, and use their smart phone to manage their account. MSU can use the cards to operate electronic access control devices for academic, administrative and student buildings, ensuring that only authorized persons are able to gain entry.

Missouri State is the latest institution to upgrade its campus card system using Blackboard’s NFC-compatible contactless system, said Blackboard. School officials said they selected Blackboard Transact following an evaluation of major providers.

“It’s our mission to provide a safe and secure campus, and with Blackboard we’re truly future-proofing our system,” said Kent Thomas, special assistant to the president at Missouri State. [end] 

Blackboard Transact has expanded its campus security offerings through a partnership with S2 Security to offer schools and universities more physical security capabilities.

S2 Security, a manufacturer of IP-based physical security and video management systems, will integrate selected NetBox products into the Blackboard Transact platform to enable intuitive browser and mobile-delivered user interfaces that can be operated wherever there is a network connection. For example, authorized administrators can instantly activate a campus lockdown either on location or remotely, via a mobile phone or tablet.

read more »

MorphoTrak, American subsidiary of Morpho (Safran), is enabling Missouri law enforcement to identify wanted or dangerous persons directly from the field eliminating the need to transport them to a police station.

read more »

Natural Security is piloting its biometric and mobile payments system at San Jose State University. The system uses biometrics and mobile devices for secure payment transactions. Brian Mitchler, the services systems manager for Spartan Shops at the school, spoke with Regarding ID’s Gina Jordan about the pilot and how it will work.

read more »

The Blackboard Transact campus card suite now supports MIFARE, a near field communication compatible protocol that enables secure contactless smart card transactions. Partner institutions can now choose either MIFARE or FeliCa when issuing NFC-compatible student identification cards or mobile phones.

read more »

Be first to comment...
Comment on this article

Your full name and URL will be displayed with your comment.

Your email is not shown or shared, and is used only for your Gravatar image.




characters left.