Apple Wallet Builds Contactless Student ID Support on Campus

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/21/19
student using iPhone as ID

A system in place at the universities of Tennessee, Vermont and San Francisco is enabling students to access buildings and buy essentials with their iPhones and Apple watches as replacements for traditional student identification cards. The solution at those institutions uses a combination of electronic or wireless locks and readers from Schlage and security technology from Allegion and CBORD, working with Apple's Wallet app.

The setup enables students, faculty and staff to get into locked buildings campus, such as residence halls, and do monetary transactions on and off campus. To use the service, they hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a reader anywhere physical student ID cards are accepted. Schools can wirelessly issue credentials to users that are protected by two-factor authentication and that can be remotely deactivated by the student or college.

This capability works with several Schlage commercial lines:

  • AD-300 and AD-400 electronic locks;
  • NDE networked wireless cylindrical locks;
  • LE networked wireless mortise locks; and
  • MT Multi-Technology readers.

"As an institution that values innovation, it's important to us that we are always adapting to the way students use technology to enhance the campus experience," said Chris Cimino, senior vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Tennessee, in a statement. "Being able to access your VolCard on your iPhone is one of the many ways [the University of Tennessee] is continuously improving to meet expectations for a modern campus." VolCard is the university's debit account service.

Recently, Allegion collaborated with Transact to enable contactless student IDs in Apple Wallet through Schlage's AD Series Locks at Mercer University.

Besides support for Allegion and CBORD, Apple Wallet also works with HID technology.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • computer with a red warning icon on its screen, surrounded by digital grids, glowing neural network patterns, and a holographic brain

    Report Highlights Security Risks of Open Source AI

    In these days of rampant ransomware and other cybersecurity exploits, security is paramount to both proprietary and open source AI approaches — and here the open source movement might be susceptible to some inherent drawbacks, such as use of possibly insecure code from unknown sources.

  • The AI Show

    Register for Free to Attend the World's Greatest Show for All Things AI in EDU

    The AI Show @ ASU+GSV, held April 5–7, 2025, at the San Diego Convention Center, is a free event designed to help educators, students, and parents navigate AI's role in education. Featuring hands-on workshops, AI-powered networking, live demos from 125+ EdTech exhibitors, and keynote speakers like Colin Kaepernick and Stevie Van Zandt, the event offers practical insights into AI-driven teaching, learning, and career opportunities. Attendees will gain actionable strategies to integrate AI into classrooms while exploring innovations that promote equity, accessibility, and student success.

  • a professional worker in business casual attire interacting with a large screen displaying a generative AI interface in a modern office

    Study: Generative AI Could Inhibit Critical Thinking

    A new study on how knowledge workers engage in critical thinking found that workers with higher confidence in generative AI technology tend to employ less critical thinking to AI-generated outputs than workers with higher confidence in personal skills.

  • university building with classical columns and a triangular roof displayed on a computer screen, surrounded by minimalist tech elements like circuit lines and abstract digital shapes

    Pima Community College Launches New Portal for a Unified Digital Campus Experience

    Arizona's Pima Community College is elevating the digital campus experience for students, faculty, and staff with a new portal built on the Pathify digital engagement platform.