Mercer U Adds ID Cards to iPhones, Apple Watches

college student using smart phone

Students at Georgia's Mercer University can now use their iPhones or Apple Watches to access buildings and facilities, buy food, register for events and handle other ID card tasks. The institution recently enabled functionality that would allow community members to add their "Bear Cards" to Apple Wallet, turning their devices into "contactless" student IDs.

Aside from the convenience factor, contactless student IDs can bolster security, according to the institution. Credentials are protected by multi-factor authentication and can be remotely deactivated by the student or university.

The building access is made possible through the use of Allegion Schlage electronic locks (specifically, the AD-300 and AD-400 models), which feature built-in credential readers and access control sensors.

Also required was campus transaction software from Transact. This firm, previously a division of Blackboard and now an independent company, produces campus card systems and services.

"We've seen the shift where people are becoming less dependent on cards and more dependent on their mobile phones, and it's no surprise that college students are embracing this change," noted Jeff Koziol, Allegion business development manager, in a statement.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • SXSW EDU

    Explore the Future of AI in Higher Ed at SXSW EDU 2025

    This March 3-6 in Austin, TX, the SXSW EDU Conference & Festival celebrates its 15th year of exploring education's most critical issues and providing a forum for creativity, innovation, and expression.

  • white clouds in the sky overlaid with glowing network nodes, circuits, and AI symbols

    AWS, Microsoft, Google, Others Make DeepSeek-R1 AI Model Available on Their Platforms

    Leading cloud service providers are now making the open source DeepSeek-R1 reasoning model available on their platforms, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

  • glowing futuristic laptop with a holographic screen displaying digital text

    New Turnitin Product Brings AI-Powered Tools to Students with Instructor Guardrails

    Academic integrity solution provider Turnitin has introduced Turnitin Clarity, a paid add-on for Turnitin Feedback Studio that provides a composition workspace for students with educator-guided AI assistance, AI-generated writing feedback, visibility into integrity insights, and more.

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.