Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Card transaction and payments system provider, TouchNet, is now offering mobile credential for Android smartphones. The addition of Android device support follows a successful rollout of mobile student IDs in Apple Wallet at Northern Arizona University. NAU will now launch its JacksCard on Android ahead of the Fall semester through TouchNet’s OneCard Mobile ID.
NAU students can use Android mobile devices to complete any action they would previously complete with their physical JacksCard – access to dorms, buildings, libraries, dining, purchases at bookstores, purchase tickets, entry to events, and more. This new offering is made possible through integrations between TouchNet OneCard Mobile ID and the NAUgo app, powered by ModoLabs.
To implement mobile ID, an institution needs a mobile app that connects with campus transaction system.
"As a TouchNet Advanced Partner, ModoLabs’ mobile apps integrate into our OneCard Campus ID solution to validate and deliver mobile IDs for students and staff," explains Ryan Audus, Vice President of Product Strategy at TouchNet.
"Whether a campus has an existing app, or needs an app, TouchNet has a solution," says Audus. "For campuses without an existing app, TouchNet’s 360u mobile app can serve as the single point of access for students, allowing them to tap their phone for access, events, payments and more."
NAU serves a combined student population of nearly 30,000 at its Flagstaff campus, statewide and online.
“We're excited to partner with TouchNet and ModoLabs to add Android users to our digital credential capabilities,” says Dr. Steve Burrell, Chief Information Officer at Northern Arizona University. “Our partners shared in our sense of urgency to create digital equity and extend these high-demand state-of-the-art capabilities to all of our students, faculty, and staff.”
TouchNet’s OneCard Mobile ID for Android is available through either a school’s existing mobile app (such as the NAUgo app) or TouchNet’s 360u mobile app which streamlines the experience for all users.
Additionally, OneCard Mobile ID offers more secure transactions that protect users’ data, better on campus security through improved access management, as well as advanced reporting in regards to student activities, payments, and point-of-sale transactions through an aggregated method that also protects each user’s privacy.
Beyond digital and physical security, mobile student IDs encourage more contactless transactions and help provide additional peace of mind as students, faculty, staff, and visitors come back to campus.
“The addition of mobile ID for Android is an important step to creating a truly contactless campus,” says Adam McDonald, President of TouchNet. “With our Android solution in place, we now offer mobile student IDs for nearly every student, helping to close the digital divide and deliver the experience students have come to expect on campus.”
OneCard Mobile ID for Android works wherever the physical campus ID is accepted and is available to all OneCard schools. The provisioning of mobile student IDs on Android devices is a big step forward for TouchNet's mobile ID offering.
"As with any campus ID program, integration is key. We are fortunate to work with a lot of great partners that all share our intention to bring a mobile-first experience to students," says Audus. "Adding mobile ID for Android is an important step for our clients and for TouchNet in our commitment to bridge the digital divide."
With a forward thinking attitude for campus credential technology, Northern Arizona made for a perfect launch partner for TouchNet's Android offering.
"NAU has been a tremendous partner as we rolled out our OneCard Mobile ID solution," says Audus. "As an organization, NAU is continually looking for ways to improve the campus experience and pushing the envelope with innovative technology solutions. It’s been a pleasure working with a team that says, 'Yes, how can we make this happen?'"
The community college system in the state of New Hampshire is, for the first time, printing mental health resources on every student ID card. The new initiative begins with the start of this fall semester.
According to a report from the Carriage Towne News, the new initiative will see all student ID cards issued by New Hampshire’s community colleges include mental health resource information. The move follows along with a growing trend across the country for the student credential help provide ready access to help when students are experiencing a crisis or other mental health challenge.
New Hampshire Legislature got the ball rolling with SB234 this past spring. The bill required student IDs to include the telephone number for the national suicide prevention lifeline.
Under the new initiative, cards issued by community colleges will include the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence helpline, the 741741 Crisis Text Line, as well as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free and new three-digit helpline.
“As rates of suicide and mental health concerns continue to increase among college student populations, we applaud those who came forward to advocate for this common-sense and compassionate measure to ensure that students have access to information that could save lives,” says Meghan Eckner, CCSNH Chief of Staff and Executive Assistant to the Board of Trustees.
“CCSNH is committed to the success of all students, and supporting their health and wellbeing, in addition to their academic and career readiness goals, is an important part of our mission," adds Eckner. "Listing these resources on ID cards is another way for us to support our students and their mental health.”
The University of Findlay has revamped its campus dining experience with the addition of delivery robots from Kiwibot. The arrival of robot delivery joins a host of other changes to Findlay dining, including redesigned dining facilities and new meal options.
According to an official university release, Kiwibot food delivery robots will now be available for anyone on campus. The robots will leverage the Everyday app on student mobile devices to process orders from on-campus dining locations.
Kiwibots will also deliver orders placed at select, new virtual dining concept options including Mr. Beast Burger, Pardon My Cheesesteak, Buddy V’s Cake Slices, and Mariah Carey’s Cookies. Kiwibot orders can be paid for directly through the app with a debit/credit card or University of Findlay meal plan points.
Students will have the option to add money to their meal plan for Kiwibot deliveries and can also elect to purchase a subscription plan to save on delivery fees. Deliveries included in the subscription plan are not charged additional fees and subscriptions expire at the end of each semester.
In total, UF Dining Services has deployed 15 food delivery robots from Kiwibot.
To use the delivery robot, students select their dining location of choice, input delivery info, receive a link to track the robot, and a notification when the food is arriving. Students can use a number of convenient pick-up locations across campus to meet the robot, and enter their one-time code to open the robot.
Joining Kiwibot delivery, Findlay's Henderson Dining Hall -- the primary dining location on campus -- is undergoing a much needed renovation that will add a new brick pizza oven, and a 24/7 to-go location. The revamp will also provide students with new meal customization options, updated build-your-own burger station, and a range of international cuisine.
The National Association for Campus Card Users recently held its first ever Data Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To help paint a better picture of the event, NACCU CEO, Dawn Thomas, discusses the topics covered, and why future iterations of the event will be a worthwhile experience for a range of university professionals.
At the inaugural Data Summit, NACCU is seeking to help universities to better utilize the data generated by card systems and better inform insights and decision making. Dealing with data can be a daunting task for any campus, so the Data Summit is designed to help develop processes to achieve consistency in data preparation, and hopefully make this task more manageable.
Registration is now open for the next NACCU Data Summit, which will be held at Ohio State University on Thursday, November 3-4, 2022.
NACCU will also host a Data Summit on February 9-10, 2023 at a West Coast location to be announced soon.
Grand Valley State University is on the verge of one full year of cashless operations on campus. The university's Cashless Campus Initiative will remain in place this fall after a successful first year.
According to a report from the Grand Valley Lantern, GVSU's Cashless Campus Initiative started taking shape in early 2020, when the campus began only allowing credit cards and electronic forms of payment to be used on campus. The system was later integrated into campus infrastructure throughout 2021.
GVSU officials say that the cashless system is designed to improve on-campus transactions by speeding up the payment process, reducing contact between cashiers and customers, and improving the safety and security of transactions.
Another benefit to the cashless system is that it decreases potential human error in book balancing by allowing for uniform, electronic tabulation and accounting of funds.
GVSU is just one of a number of campuses to move to a cashless format for on-campus payment transactions. Vanderbilt, North Carolina State, University of Tennessee-Knoxville and others have all implemented similar systems as a means to improve on-campus purchases.
From the student perspective, the cashless system leads to faster lines at the till with more convenient methods of payment.
As for the methods of payment at GVSU, credit cards remain the most common way to make purchases but are only one of multiple ways to pay without cash. Students and employees can use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Tap-and-Go as forms of payment on campus.
For students equipped solely with cash, the university has implemented multiple cash-to-card ATM kiosks on campus. Students can use these kiosks to purchase prepaid cards that are accepted wherever standard credit cards are used. The prepaid cards can hold up to $500 each and do not carry any additional fees.
GVSU has published an FAQ page to help its campus community better navigate its cashless environment.
Valley City State University has launched its Viking Mobile ID for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Android smarthones. Students can now use their mobile credential on campus to make payments and access university buildings.
According to an official university release, the launch of mobile credential will enable students, faculty, and staff to add the Viking Mobile ID to Apple Wallet or Google Pay for use on their iPhones, Apple Watches, or Android phones.
A device with the Viking Mobile ID can be used to access residence halls as assigned, check out books and other library materials, purchase meals at on-campus dining locations, buy coffee at the VCSU-run coffee shop, and make purchases at the campus bookstores.
“Moving from physical cards to a contactless Viking Mobile ID allows for transactions that are safe, convenient, and highly secure,” says Alan LaFave, VCSU President. “This also helps students avoid touching the readers or handing their ID cards to someone else. The safety and security of students and employees is a top priority. The Viking Mobile ID is a great addition to the VCSU experience.”
The Viking Mobile ID is also protected by two-factor authentication.
“VCSU continues to provide technology leadership in North Dakota higher education,” says Joe Tykwinski, Chief Information Officer at VCSU. “The latest mobile solutions help ensure students and employees have convenient access to the information and services they need.”
VCSU worked with Transact to provide this mobile credential for students, faculty and staff.
VCSU's mobile credential is completely ubiquitous, meaning it can be used everywhere the plastic ID card can be used.
"Having a mobile credential that could be used on campus in the same way a plastic ID card could be used was our goal," says Tammy Jo Anderson, Director for Marketing & Communications at Valley City State University. "The whole intent is making the student experience more streamlined and user-friendly."
VCSU will continue to issue plastic credentials alongside the mobile credentials, but Anderson explains that users must make a choice of one or the other. "The plastic ID card costs $25 versus the Viking Mobile ID, which is free to users."
In preparation for mobile credential, Anderson says that the VCSU campus has fully upgraded its reader infrastructure. "We've installed Transact MRD 5 devices, in addition to the campus' existing Transact MF 4100 readers."
To set up their mobile school ID, students must download the Transact eAccounts app, authenticate with their university credentials, and then add their Viking Mobile ID to Apple Wallet or Google Pay.
Case Western Reserve University will transition to two new campus safety apps for emergency alerts and transportation services on campus. Effective August 1, the university's Spartan Safe and Spartan Ride apps will be available to the campus community.
According to an official university release, Spartan Safe operates under the Rave Mobile Safety platform, which has been in place at Case Western to send emergency alerts. Spartan Safe will replace the Rave Guardian app, and provide additional functionality to boost safety on campus.
Spartan Safe app features:
Spartan Ride features include:
“Whether we’re communicating emergency information or helping the CWRU community get around campus quickly, we want to be able to offer the best tools to keep campus safe -- Spartan Safe and Spartan Ride will help us do that,” says Megan Koeth, Executive Director of Public Safety at Case Western Reserve University. “We’re excited to make these transitions and to offer new features that will make it easier for our community to stay informed and safe.”
Both Spartan Safe and Spartan Ride will be available for free download on the App Store and Google Play on August 1, 2022. The existing CWRU Rave Guardian and CWRU Safe Ride apps will no longer be in service after July 31.
Texas A&M University is moving to a cashless environment in Aggie Dining. The university will also launch mobile ordering at most of its retail campus dining locations, with the ultimate goal of converting to an entirely cashless experience across all campus dining.
According to an official university release, the implementation of cashless technology will enable students, faculty and staff to have access to a mobile ordering app that will make their campus dining experience quicker and easier. Transact Campus will provide its mobile ordering app solution as part of the cashless overhaul.
The Transact app will enable students to order and pay for food in advance at retail dining locations across campus, including Copperhead Jack’s, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Houston Street Subs, Rev’s American Grill, Shake Smart, Cabo, Azimuth, Creekside Market and Vet Med Café. A&M will add more locations over the course of the coming year.
The mobile ordering app is free to download and available on both Android and Apple devices. To set up an account, users will first select Texas A&M as their location and add a payment option. Students can add a standard credit card or their Texas A&M meal plan with dining dollars.
When placing an order, students select the time they want to pick up their order. When ready, the student will visit the participating location's designated mobile order pickup line to retrieve their food.
University officials say that mobile ordering is part of an larger strategy to reduce wait times and boost convenience at various campus dining locations.
“The Transact mobile ordering app allows everyone on campus to customize their dining experience,” says Donald Koshis, senior director of operations for Aggie Dining. “It is a great tool that will help our customers with its ease and convenience.”
The move to an entirely cashless dining environment will also enable the university to streamline campus operations, reduce security risks, speed-up transaction times, and mitigate health and safety concerns associated with handling cash.
Touchless payment options will also be available on campus. Students can make purchases with Apple Pay, Google Pay, debit cards, credit cards and Texas A&M dining dollars.
Reverse ATM kiosks will also be installed at A&M's Memorial Student Center to convert cash to a Visa or Mastercard prepaid debit card, free of charge. The cards can be utilized anywhere Visa or Mastercard are accepted.
“Our new technology and systems being put in place will bring a smoother service to our customers and speed up wait times,” says David Riddle, regional vice president of Aggie Dining. “We are excited about these big changes and the positive impact they’ll have on the customer experience.”
The University of Notre Dame will transition to a cashless retail environment on campus beginning August 1. Citing health reasons and a desire for more efficient campus payments, the move to cashless includes transactions at Notre Dame food-service locations, dining halls, concession stands and laundry, as well as dining services at Saint Mary’s College and Holy Cross College where Notre Dame manages operations.
According to an official university release, Notre Dame students and staff will see various improvements in the cashless environment including faster transactions than traditional cash exchange; the elimination of potential health concerns with less cash repeatedly changing hands; and the safety of not having large amounts of cash being held in registers or transported across campus for deposit.
“I am excited for this move to a cashless campus as transactions will be faster, saving time for both visitors and staff alike,” says Rich Bellis, associate vice president for finance and treasury services at Notre Dame. “Going cashless will eliminate security risks associated with transporting cash and will reduce end-of-day reconciliation for our employees. I am grateful to our team and campus partners for working together to implement this transition where possible.”
Faculty, staff and students can continue to add funds to their Irish1Cards for use in the campus dining halls.
Cash has seen less use on Notre Dame's campus over the past few years, particularly as more campus departments have implemented cashless alternatives. Notre Dame athletic contests have successfully operated as cashless environments since the fall of 2021, including parking for games and concerts. On campus food retail locations have also operated electronically via mobile ordering dating back to the fall of 2018.
The cashless initiative also accounts for those individuals who don't have an Irish1Card, credit or debit card, with the installation of kiosks on campus where cash can be transferred to a Visa gift card to complete transactions on campus. The gift cards can be used anywhere Visa is accepted on or off campus at no additional charge to the user.
The cashless initiative applies to just the campus environment, as vendors in the surrounding area of Notre Dame's campus will still accept cash.
Long Island University is extending its use of BIO-key's PortalGuard IAM platform to protect its enterprise applications and data. The new agreement extends an existing customer relationship that BIO-key has maintained with LIU since 2015.
BIO-key International provides workforce and customer identity and access management (IAM) solutions with Identity-Bound Biometrics. The contract extension will see LIU continue to leverage the BIO-key PortalGuard IAM platform.
"We are pleased to extend our relationship with LIU and offer an integrated security approach to protecting the institution," says Mark Cochran, President of BIO-key – PortalGuard. "Many higher educational institutions must expand their security footprint without increasing net security costs."
LIU uses BIO-key PortalGuard to strengthen its enterprise security. A key benefit for LIU is PortalGuard's capability to support an integrated security system and allow the institution to utilize previous investments in other security solutions, all while adding multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and self-service password reset to its user community.
The agreement with LIU will extend to the university's 15,000 students across both the LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn campuses.
Breaches and cyberattacks against higher education institutions have increased in the last year and can pose serious financial risk to institutions. Campuses that implement IAM solutions that capable of adapting to secure access requirements can help to mitigate cost and risk.
"Institutions are looking for solutions that keep faculty, staff, and students safer while reducing business disruptions while simultaneously reducing the number of outside providers they need to juggle," says Cochran. "We excel at delivering security solutions with a tangible return on investment for our customers."
BIO-key has provided authentication technology for organizations in higher education, healthcare and finance for the past 20 years. The company has paired authentication with biometric-centric, multi-factor identity and access management solutions.
The company's PortalGuard IAM solution provides convenient and secure access to devices, information, applications, and high-value transactions. BIO-key features patented software and hardware solutions that enable large-scale, on-premises and cloud-based Identity-as-a-Service solutions, as well as customized enterprise solutions.
