There’s been a lot of buzz about mobile credentials and Apple student ID this week. A cascade of press releases from across the industry, including from Apple, CBORD, Transact, Allegion and HID is signifying that mobile credentials are primed for a promising year ahead. Headlining the announcements is CBORD’s official support of contactless student IDs in Apple Wallet, along with a roster of CBORD campus clients that are set to begin issuing mobile credentials this fall.

Transact has added a new, diverse group of universities that will be issuing the Transact Mobile Credential to students. Since its launch just nine months ago Transact Mobile Credential has recorded impressive adoption rates at the launch institutions. Here’s an update on the progress made to date and some insight into where the solution is going in the future.

The University of Oregon is implementing a number of measures designed to boost digital security for students, including the addition of two-factor authentication for a number of campus services. The added layer of login security will be used for many of the campus services that students already log into with their Duck ID credentials.

Adding to Allegion’s support of Transact Mobile Credentials in Apple Wallet, the company’s Schlage AD Series locks now fully support contactless student IDs on iPhone and Watch. This new capability is specific to Schlage AD-300 and AD-400 electronic locks, which feature built-in credential readers and access control sensors for simplified installation.

HID Global’s Director of Business Development, Education Solutions, Brett St. Pierre provides a rundown of the company’s solution suite for the higher education vertical. In addition to newer solutions in the mobile identity and biometrics arenas, St. Pierre also discusses the company’s continuing focus on card technologies, and cites some of HID’s recent acquisitions and other investments around the card technology sector.

Paciolan, a college athletics ticketing service provider, has announced that it will be able to add contactless tickets to Apple Wallet and enable fans to enter stadiums with just an iPhone or Apple Watch. Students and fans will both be able to enter stadiums by placing their iPhone or Apple Watch near a contactless reader, eliminating the need to print paper tickets.

Food insecurity is a growing issue for students across the country, leading to meal-donation programs popping up on campuses across the country. But the University of California, Merced’s iCare meal donation program has set the bar particularly high both in terms of the service it provides and how the system has been implemented.

An editorial published in the University of Texas at Austin’s student publication late last year called for the university to implement some form of mobile ID. Now, a second Daily Texan editorial has been penned, again calling for the university to issue some form of mobile IDs to UT students.