Mobile credentials, and by extension mobile access, are often thought of as being “on the roadmap” types of functions. Lots of campuses would love to have it, but full-scale mobile deployment remains sparse for now.

One campus that is leveraging mobile access, however, is Emory University where students can use Heartland’s OneCard Mobile solution to gain access to a campus library, as well as make purchases at select vending machines while inside. The project highlighted in the video above is a real-world deployment and shows that mobile access on college campuses is not only attainable but worth pursuing.

The process to gain entry via the mobile device is, as admitted in the video, not any quicker for the student as compared to using a card. But for those instances when students forget their campus card, being able to access campus facilities and make purchases without the card present can be a lifesaver.

From their mobile device, Emory students can also:

• Check EmoryCard account information
• See EmoryCard account balances
• Make credit card deposits to Eagle accounts
• Review recent transactions
• See meal plan status
• See where their ID card was used last
• Check for messages from EmoryCard
• Deactivate lost cards

Few would argue that students live on their mobile devices now, and to offer the option of campus card functionality on the same device that students are already using for everything else seems to be a logical next step. And early concepts like the one at Emory will be great stepping stones toward newer, more advanced card functionality in the future.