Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Last summer, Harvard announced that it was phasing out its decades-old Crimson Cash declining balance program. Citing declining usage and the prevalence of open system debit and credit cards, they began a yearlong multi-step elimination plan.
This month, the final stages of this plan will be complete, and the one of higher ed’s pioneering declining balance and off-campus merchant programs will be no more.
In 2024, residential dining, gyms, and vending ceased to accept the payment method. The once-popular off-campus merchant program managed by the university also ended, with Grubhub stepping in to fill the gap.
At the start of 2025, Crimson Cash was no longer accepted at retail dining locations.
This left three areas to complete the phase out – laundry, copy/print, and Student Grilles. These areas were more difficult to eliminate as they relied heavily or exclusively on Crimson Cash.
The solution for laundry came via a payment app from the institution’s laundry provider CSC. The CSCPayMobile App lets students add funds to a dedicated laundry account to pay for services.
“This will be a significant improvement to user convenience accepting all major credit cards as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay,” says the Crimson Cash website. “In addition, the app will show the availability of machines, wash and dry cycle status, and account balance information.”
TouchNet is providing the solution for the Grilles and copy/print services.
The Student Grilles – which previously only accepted Crimson Cash and flex bucks – will now accept credit and debit cards via the TouchNet solution. They will continue to accept BoardPlus, the $65 of flex bucks provided with undergraduate meal plans.
Harvard’s copy and print services, known as Crimson Print, will complete the transition to a dedicated account that can be recharged via debit or credit card through the TouchNet payment gateway.
As described by the Crimson Cash site, “students and guests will be able to add to or manage their printing account balances from the Crimson Print web portal.”
As of June 30, there will be no place left for students to use any remaining Crimson Cash funds. They can, however, request a refund online until June 30, 2026.
R.I.P. Crimson Cash. You were a model for campuses across the country and made life better for hundreds of thousands of students over the years.
A new facial recognition reader from Assa Abloy’s Control iD line can store 100,000 templates on the device, enabling standalone usage or integration with existing security systems.
In a conversation with CampusIDNews, Jeff Bransfield, Regional Director of Digital Access Solutions for Assa Abloy, introduces the iDFace Max. The new seven-inch facial identification terminal is receiving significant attention for its ability to support multiple deployment configurations.
In standalone mode, it manages access privileges, enrolls users, and authenticates identities without relying on a system of record. Alternatively, it can serve as a reader connected to systems like Genetec, Lenel OnGuard, or Software House CCURE 9000, pulling cardholder databases directly for rapid deployment.
In addition to biometrics, it supports a wide range of contactless and NFC wallet credentials.
iDFace Max is especially suited for environments like athletic facilities, where managing physical credentials is cumbersome. Using facial recognition as the primary credential streamlines access while enhancing security and convenience.
Thanks to its integrated HID OmniKey core, it also supports multiple credential types – including Seos, Prox, NFC wallet credentials, QR codes, PINs, and more.
To watch the full interview, click the image at the top of this page.
Transcript
Hi, I am Jeff Bransfield, Regional Director of Digital Access Solutions for Assa Abloy.
We're here this week following up after ISC West. We have a lot of interesting products that we've shown at the show. Now we're at NACCU and talking to campuses and really highlighting one specific product that's getting a lot of buzz.
So Control ID, we launched a new terminal this year called iDFace Max. It's our seven-inch facial identification reader controller. iDFace Max is a transformational technology.
It has the ability to be deployed in so many different flexible deployment modes, meaning I can put this thing out there standalone, have it run all the access privileges, rules.
I can enroll all my users standalone.
I don't need to rely on an access control system of record necessarily.
If we do have an access control system, we can actually hook it in as a reader so that the access control system actually makes those yes/no decisions, but I'm managing the templates on the device and the facial identification on the device.
And then lastly, we have the ability to have a fully native integration to the software OEMs as well.
So, if I'm running a Genetec or a Lenel OnGuard, or Software House CCURE 9000 system, they can literally bring the cardholder database to the terminals directly so that I can deploy tomorrow and I've already got cardholder photos in the system of record.
In they go. It's authenticating their face and we're ready to move forward.
So we're seeing a lot of use cases, especially around the higher educational institutions where athletics facilities, you know, places where managing credentials or lack thereof for credentials is a difficult task to do.
iDFace really gives the ability to just use the human as the credential so they can just walk into the facilities. It's an intentional act of using your face as the credential. It's security and convenience really coming together in those facilities and allowing for flexibility of deployment.
With iDFace Max, the seven inch terminal we're releasing, it also has an HID OmniKey core inside of it.
So I can support all of those contactless credentials as well, whether that's Seos, whether that's Prox, whether that's NFC or wallet credentials. I can support all of those inside that terminal.
So you can have one device at the opening doing facial rec, you can do PIN, you can do QR code, you can have a card, you can have a mobile wallet, etc. It's an extremely powerful device.
So what's really nice about the terminal too is whether it's connected to an access control system of record or it's native integration, or if it's standalone, iDFace Max has the ability to do up to 100,000 faces inside the terminal itself.
It can process 100,000 faces, and you can distribute QR codes to hundreds of thousands more users as well.
If you're connected to an OEM, a software OEM, you're kind of limitless at that point as far as the users that can be pushed down because then the system can manage however many.
If you have access to that terminal or that door, that's when iDFace will actually download the template to the device.
So like with every Assa Abloy product and family that we have, we've got a ton of resources in our sales teams. We've got over 700 people that just represent everything opening solutions.
So if you need door hardware questions, you need door questions, you need decorative handle questions, electronic questions, we've got people on the team that can direct you in the right place.
I would reach out to your local Assa Abloy people, whether that's your campus rep, whether that's your integrated solution specialists, or just go visit our website.
So www.intelligentopenings.com is a great place to start for all the smart stuff on the digital access side.
So I appreciate and look forward to hearing from you.
While most people know Southern New Hampshire University as a private, online institution, it does have a physical campus. Its 3,000 students need ID cards, and its facilities require security and other transaction-related services.
In terms of total enrollment, SNHU is the second largest accredited higher ed institution in the country. With more than 175,000 students, it trails the largest institution – Western Governors University – by just 10,000 enrollees.
It is well more than twice the size of the two largest on-campus and hybrid institutions – Arizona State and Texas A&M College Station – and three times the size of the remaining universities in the list of top 25 enrollments.
More than 500 readers from Allegion are replacing outdated technology to prepare the campus for future credential technology.
But where Western Governors University is totally online, SNHU’s 300-acre physical campus has academic buildings, residence halls, dining facilities that require physical access control.
Recently, SNHU began updating door access hardware across the entire campus. More than 500 readers from Allegion are replacing outdated technology to prepare the campus for future credential technology.
An article in the Penmen Press says that about 450 of the 500 locations have transitioned to the new hardware. The rest require a custom size reader so they will be installed when ready.
Stacy Gomez, Manager of Site Services with SNHU’s Network Operations Team, says the project was driven by lifecycle management and mobile credentials.
Her team is responsible for making sure campus technology – like physical access systems – stays current and reliable.
This upgrade is part of a larger Network Operations Team initiative – in conjunction with Facilities – to incorporate campuswide hardware lifecycle management.
This upgrade is part of a larger Network Operations Team initiative – in conjunction with Facilities – to incorporate campuswide hardware lifecycle management.
“We applaud SNHU for their proactive approach to infrastructure upkeep,” says Jeff Koziol, Business Development Manager for Mobile Credential at Allegion. “It is always good to see institutions actively address aging infrastructure and plan for what lies ahead.”
Beyond lifecycle management, SNHU is also paving the way for mobile credentials.
“These new readers are compatible with future integrations like mobile credentials,” says Gomez. “While we don’t have a go-live date, we’re taking steps now to be ready when the time comes.”
Allegion’s Koziol says the Schlage MTB readers selected by SNHU will support both current contactless credentials today and, when ready, mobile wallet credentials.
Genea is a cloud-based smart building security provider that recently entered the higher education market via a partnership with Transact+CBORD. CampusIDNews talked with the company’s President and CEO Michael Wong to learn about the company and its offerings.
Though new to this market, Genea has deep roots in corporate security with major customers such as Target Corporation. Target uses the Genea platform across 18 countries and 1500 locations.
According to Wong, when Transact+CBORD was seeking a replacement to its on-prem TS Access solution, they selected Genea as a best-in-class cloud solution.
Most enterprise software applications no longer sit on a server in the basement of the building. They've migrated to the cloud. We're that cloud solution, best-in-class.
The company’s first higher ed implementation is underway at Mercer University, a former TS Access client looking to transition to a modern platform.
Wong highlights Genea’s flexibility, integration capability with other providers, and commitment to open hardware standards. Using Mercury hardware instead of proprietary controllers gives customers the freedom to switch vendors if needed.
Built natively in the cloud, Genea stands out for its speed of innovation. In 2023, the company rolled out 55 major feature updates, compared to just one or two typical of on-prem systems. This agility allows Genea to respond quickly to customer feedback and deliver requested features in weeks rather than months.
To watch the full interview, click the image at the top of this page.
TRANSCRIPT
Hi, I'm Michael Wong, President and CEO of Genea. We are a cloud-based smart building security platform.
We are relatively new to the higher ed space, partially because of our partnership with Transact+CBORD, where they're starting to end the life of some of their security products. They did their research on all the different access control solutions in the marketplace, and they said ours is the best. So that's how we got introduced to this industry.
We're now working with some of the other providers as well to do integrations.
We do all Target security worldwide, so access control across 18 countries, 1,500 retail locations, all their corporate offices, data centers, distribution centers.
Right now we are doing our first implementation for Mercer University. So, I talked to Ken Boyer. Once we're fully implemented, he'll be able to tell you what the experience has been like.
In terms of other industries that we've worked with, Target Corporation is our largest customer. We do all Target security worldwide, so access control across 18 countries, 1,500 retail locations, all their corporate offices, data centers, distribution centers.
So we know we can handle higher ed and the scale and complexity that it requires, because we've done it for a Fortune 50 company.
You know, one of the things that's happening right now with the industry is, for example, Transact is end of life’ing their TS access solution, and so those customers need to find a different solution.
So once again, as Transact looked at not developing another solution internally and trying to bring that to the cloud, they picked us as a best-in-class solution.
So that's what brings us back to Mercer University. Mercer was a TS access client. They were looking at trying to figure out what was the next step. And so we're right now at the beginning of the implementation process for Mercer University, and it's going well.
A lot of the end users that I've been talking to at the conference are just trying to figure out what else is available.
With Mercury hardware, they have 23 software providers that could use that same controller. So, if you do nothing else besides make sure that you get onto a Mercury platform, you future proof your investments.
And so with most enterprise software applications, they no longer sit on the server in the computer in the basement of the building. They've migrated to the cloud. We're that cloud solution, best-in-class.
We use Mercury hardware, which is very important, by the way. There's a lot of proprietary systems out there where they will sell you a proprietary hardware or a controller. And then if you want to switch to something else, no other software provider can use that.
So we lean in with Mercury as the platform on the hardware side because we always want to have our customers stay with us because we're providing great service and support, not because we sold them something that they can't get away from.
So with Mercury hardware, they have 23 software providers that could use that same controller. So, if you do nothing else besides make sure that you get onto a Mercury platform, you give yourself options and future proof your investments.
We are natively built in the cloud in AWS, which means our architecture is all microservices.
What does that mean? It means we can innovate faster than any company in the space. We had 55 major feature releases last year alone, where your typical on-prem solution with their monolithic code base, they can't be nimble like that. They're typically maybe releasing one or two.
And so when you talk to our end customers, one of the things you'll hear from them is they're just astonished about how quickly we can bring their ideas to fruition. We do it in months and sometimes weeks.
So if you want to learn more about Genea, go to our website. It's getGenea.com. Reach out, we'll set up a meeting, and we'll walk you through our platform.
Across the board, our editorial team is hearing that tariffs between 3% and 10% are impacting virtually all products used in campus card and access control systems. Suppliers and resellers report increases in PACS readers, cameras, biometric devices, cards, printers, and consumables. It is hard to say what portion of these price increases are being passed on to institutional end users, but it seems almost certain that costs are rising.
In a Security Info Watch article, editor-in-chief Paul Rothman said, “just like the supply chain crisis before it, new price increases are flowing downward in the channel, reaching integrators and, unfortunately, customers.”
Unfortunately, most (increases) we have received are effective immediately which makes it difficult for us and our customers.
Though many or most of the suppliers for campus card programs are U.S.-based companies, their products often contain parts or are assembled overseas. This is where the increased tariffs come into play. It costs more for suppliers to obtain or manufacture the products, and these increases must be covered by one or more parties in the chain.
The unsettling news is that many of the largest proposed or threatened tariffs have been postponed until later in the summer. If they come to fruition, impacts could be far more severe.
Because the timing and scale have been moving targets, it has been difficult for suppliers to plan. Some say they’ve already received multiple price increases for the same part or product.
“Some partners have planned accordingly and given us a 30-day window,” says Todd Brooks, Vice President of Products & Technology at ColorID. “Unfortunately, most (increases) we have received are effective immediately which makes it difficult for us and our customers.”
While prices may be rising, Brooks notes that there haven’t been any extended lead times or delays in product availability.
In some cases, there may be alternative products or solutions available that are less affected by tariffs.
“If you are flexible and your ecosystem allows for alternative products, we can help identify those,” says Brooks. “It’s going to be a case-by-case scenario.”
Are there lessons from the Covid supply chain crisis that can apply here?
“It’s that flexibility and interoperability win,” he says. “Those who have ecosystems that allow for different plug-and-play third-party applications are going to have less stress through all of this.”
Each year, the Student Financial Experience Report commissioned by TouchNet provides a unique glimpse into college students’ payment, ID, and campus service preferences.
The 2025 study includes responses from 3,245 undergraduate students from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. It explores how students navigate various campus financial systems and leverage technology to enhance their campus experience.
Institutions can use the findings to improve student satisfaction and success in areas from payments to auxiliaries and card programs to security.
For everyday purchases like food and entertainment, 55% of U.S. respondents say they “always” or “frequently” use mobile pay (e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay) over other forms of payment.
General topic areas include:
For each topic, a series of questions was presented. A sampling of specific findings is included below, and the full report is available for free download.
More than 55% of U.S. students use three or more different sources to pay their tuition. The top reported sources include personal payment, family support, aid/scholarships/grants from the institution, and federal or private student loans. Each of those are used by about 40% of respondents.
Students prefer self-service over contacting a personThe migration from face-to-face service delivery to self-service channels is evident in the findings.
Two-thirds of students use their institution’s online portal to pay their personal portion of tuition using bank transfer or card payment. Just less than 25% pay via the institution’s mobile app using online banking, card, or Apple Pay/Google Pay. Only 8% make in-person payments.
Similarly, the preferred communication methods for accessing student account and tuition payment information are overwhelmingly web portals and mobile apps. Phone and in-person options are far less popular.
For everyday purchases like food and entertainment, 55% of U.S. respondents say they “always” or “frequently” use mobile pay (e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay) over other forms of payment. For bill payments like rent, utilities, and phone this number drops, but remains strong, at more than 40%.
While these numbers are large, mobile payment usage by students in the U.S. lags U.K., Canada, and Australia.
When asked what type of student ID you currently use, 22% have only a mobile ID while 40% have both a mobile and physical ID. More than one-third of all students have only a physical card.
45% of students say they would prefer a mobile ID while 30% would prefer to have both a mobile ID and physical card. One-quarter still prefer a physical card.
In terms of preference, however, 45% say they would prefer a mobile ID while 30% would prefer to have both. One-quarter still prefer a physical card.
The most requested use for a student ID is mobile identification, with more than 50% of respondents naming that as a key use. Following mobile ID, traditional use cases including building access, meal plans, campus cash accounts, and parking are ranked as important at roughly 35%.
Higher ed is recognizing the potential for data from transaction and access systems to provide insights into student behavior and deliver better services. But do students see this as intrusive or enabling?
When asked, “What is your opinion about your institution actively tracking and using student ID data to improve campus amenities,” most students were on board. Assuming there was transparency and it led to improved services, more than 85% support the efforts.
Another question asked students to specify up to three services that their institution could improve with technology. The top answers related to payments, with “tuition and financial aid processes” topping the list. More than one-third of U.S. respondents place it in their top three.
Academic support services, security/access, dining, campus stores, and course registration also rank high, each making the list for more than 20% of respondents.
There is a wealth of additional information in the study that can provide insight into student preferences for digital solutions, payments, physical and mobile ID, and more. Understanding what your students really want can help you steer product and program offerings in the direction that can increase student retention and satisfaction.
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In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Rasheed Behrooznia and Taran Lent of Transact+CBORD discuss the company’s efforts to continue to advance product offerings.
Behrooznia confirmed increased investment in research and development, with 2025 marking yet another rise. On the product front, a key update is a new release of the CSGold platform—incorporating client-requested features, natural language queries, and improved access control support.
We have double the ideas and our R&D investments are going twice as far because we're not duplicating efforts on the same thing.
The company is also expanding AI and machine learning applications to enhance mobile ordering with more accurate wait time predictions. New tools for managing student event check-ins and entitlement systems – including new mobile hardware options – are also in the pipeline.
Lent emphasized the company's long-standing experience with cloud solutions, dating back to 2004. He cited that moving to the cloud remains critical to reducing total cost of ownership, increasing agility, and improving system reliability.
We just fundamentally believe products that are built to work well for people with challenges work better for everyone.
We just fundamentally believe products that are built to work well for people with challenges work better for everyone.
Transact+CBORD’s IDX platform—a cloud-native system currently used by over 100 institutions—is central to this strategy.
The upcoming summer release will introduce features such as embedded data visualizations, expanded security integrations, and mobile credential support.
To listen to the full conversation, click the image at the top of this page.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello and welcome to Campus ID News Chats.
Today we're going to talk about what's new with the Transact plus CBORD product offering. I'm your host Chris Corum, publisher of Campus ID News, and joining me today are probably the two people who know more about the vision for the company's products than anybody else.
We've got Chief Technology Officer Taran Lent and EVP and GM for Campus ID and Commerce Rasheed Behrooznia aro.
So guys, appreciate you joining me today.
Thank you Chris for having us.
So I'm going to direct my questions at one of you individually, but don't feel like you're like trapped in a box. You know, the other one can come over the top or wait till the end and respond or something like that, but you can add in as you wish.
So with that, Rasheed, I'm going to direct the first one to you, okay?
Q: We spoke a while ago, shortly after the acquisition kind of blending of the companies began, and you mentioned that in addition to all the work that would go on there, there was going to be some significant investment put into the product offerings.
So it was a little early to talk about it back then, but can you share some of the details on that?
Behrooznia: Yeah, definitely. Just to kind of step back, you know, a couple kind of thoughts that we have, I mean, one, you know, in kind of the previous times we spoke, I've shared a lot of passion that we have, especially for our higher ed, and a lot of the individuals have been working kind of in this domain for a long time.
So we're very excited to kind of dig in and see what we can bring to market.
Kind of on top of that, you know, the company for the last five plus years has increased the R&D spend every year, and for 2025 in private state, we did that once again.
So some specific that I'm excited about, for our gold clients, we're releasing a new version of gold that's going to be coming out later this fall, had some exciting new features built into it, including some, you know, a lot of client ideas that have been requested into the product, which is always exciting for those clients, natural language queries and some other advancements with the product.
We also sat down and said, okay, how can we support our clients that are leveraging the CS Access solution?
So largely that security solution that many of our Gold and other clients use, and we're excited to share that we're going to be supporting that out into the future.
So that will, of course, be supported out with existing solutions today, but also integrated with our access control layer and supportive of ideas down to the future as well.
We're also integrating our point of sale system, so our commerce solution with the commerce API that supports our Odyssey and Gold clients.
You know, one of the things that I'm excited about, kind of on that commerce side, is we've invested in some AI and machine learning, and we're bringing to market some improved wait time predictions using that AI to help those mobile ordering clients with their mobile ordering prediction wait time and leveraging that AI and machine learning, which is very specific for the solutions and the university that is leveraging that solution as well.
Our data insights platform, which brings together some insights and analytics around the leverage of the system, we've released that out into our commerce platform, so that's available for our clients today.
And then we have a number of things also going in on the ID side, including we're re-imagining how entitlements work and bringing out solutions there, including a new verified terminal to manage activities and events with mobile solutions for check-in.
So a number of things that we're doing to kind of really bring some advanced new innovations out into our market space, both on our commerce platform and our ID platform for all of our clients.
Lent: Hey, by the way, just to add a little call to that, what I love about what Rasheed was talking about, our combination, is we have double the ideas, and then our R&D investments are going twice as far because we're not duplicating efforts on the same thing.
So it's pretty exciting, you know, to be in the product world from that respect.
What we're trying to do at our core is we want to help schools simplify their operations and elevate the end-user experience in a meaningful way.
And so, you know, I think what we can do that's unique is we're using our scale to build what we call enterprise grade, and enterprise grade for me means we do the hard things, and the hard things for us are going kind of next level with security and compliance, really going the extra mile on kind of design and user experience, including that is, you know, built into our DNA is accessibility.
We just fundamentally believe products that are built to work well for people with challenges work better for everyone.
You know, and all that's built on the foundation leveraging the latest most modern technologies and kind of obviously a cloud focus, but we're really framing the conversation of, you know, who are you going to trust for the next decade with your mission critical business, with your data, with your innovation, and we just think that we're in a really unique position to do that.
And, you know, at the end of the day, what we care about is when we demo our products that we're proud to demo them, and then when clients use the products or expose them to their end users, that they love it and that the experience is, you know, exceeds expectations.
Q: A couple of comments already about the cloud migration and things. So, sticking with that, Taran, we know the basic advantages of moving a system to the cloud. We use it every day with almost everything we do now, but in your world and in the world of these traditionally on-prem campus card and ID transaction system solutions, give us a summary of the advantages and the benefits you see from migrating those systems.
Lent: I was hoping you would ask a question along those lines, Chris. The first thing I have to say is the cloud is not new to transact. I think you were one of the very first people I talked to back in 2004 when I pioneered taking campus ID to the cloud, you know, with CardSmith.
If you look at our portfolio, payments have been in the cloud for a long time. You know, around 2018, we moved our cloud point of sale to the cloud. So, the cloud is not new to us, and we've been mastering and perfecting it, you know, for a couple of decades now.
You know, but what people need to understand is, to me, the first thing is just total cost of ownership. I think you get more capability at a lower cost when you do things in the cloud.
There's kind of what I would call modern business agility, you know, so technologies that are built to change in the future. For us as a software developer, we're just able to deliver value continuously and much faster than we can with legacy on-premise systems. There are economies of scale, which mostly translate into just better infrastructure for reliability, availability.
Availability is a big one for us.
And then it's just, you know, one of our themes is we want our clients to be more strategic and less tactical. So, it's about where you spend your time. And so, with cloud solutions, there's just less IT burden and overhead. There's a lot of studies out there that show it's a decrease of 30%. The pressure is on us to monitor the system, upgrade it, patch it, secure it, respond to whatever happens.
And so, you know, those are the obvious cloud things.
I think specific for our industry, there's also kind of the system interoperability.
So there's school networks, you know, like school systems or even like the College of the Fenway program we have in Boston, if you want schools to interop. So, I think there's just a lot of advantages when you get the technology in the cloud. And that's why so many industries are there or moving there quickly.
Q: Rasheed, so your cloud platform is the IDX platform. So, give us an update. Obviously, we're steering new clients and existing clients as they're ready to the IDX platform because of the cloud nature of it. How many are there? What's the growth look like? Kind of a general update on IDX.
Behrooznia: Yeah, absolutely.
I just want to touch on something that I really loved, which is, it's not just about moving clients to the cloud, it's about optimizing that experience, supporting them in their journey in a number of ways and looking for opportunities that leverage the best of these solutions, but bringing together optimizing, streamlining their operations, meeting them and the clients and the students where they work.
And of course, all the “illities.”
But to give you kind of some hard facts on where we are on IDX, we're over a hundred clients that are on the platform, hundreds of thousands of cardholders that are propped up, a million transactions.
We're exceptionally proud of the performance, which has exceeded our reliability desires, which has a hundred percent uptime, which is spectacular.
We focused very much on being thoughtful on how we wanted to approach this and, you know, not go too fast for the sake of going fast, but really focusing on a solid foundation built on the latest cloud technology, ensuring that we're, you know, have a thoughtful approach to supporting the clients there, which is why I think we have that success in that platform.
But yeah, 100 plus clients live, there's, you know, millions of clients back from process and very excited, kind of what we're going to bring to market.
We've got a few hundred more planned for this year and going into early of next year.
So quite a lot of work is going into that platform and some great results.
Lent: Something I just would add to that is it's a big endeavor, but we talked about that. We've been doing cloud solutions, going all the way back to 2004, there were kind of some other models that came out after Cardsmith that were kind of imitations of that. We could have kept riding in that direction, but we just think because of our leadership position, at some point you'd have to have life cycle discipline. 20 years is a pretty good run for technology and software.
And you know, we feel like we have a responsibility to reinvent and disrupt and take advantage of all the technology change. But like Rasheed said, we're doing that in a careful, thoughtful way. We're giving our customers lots of transparency. We're giving them lots of timeframe with our new platform. It's a proven model. We don't want anybody moving to it until they want to because of all the new features and capabilities.
And so it's, it's a journey, but great companies know when it's time to invest in the future. It's a tough decision to make, but we're pretty excited about kind of what lies ahead for us and our clients.
Q: We're, we're close to the end of our time here. So, I got one more question, Taran, this one's for you. I know last summer you had a big back to school release, maybe the summer before I can't remember, but, and there's another one planned coming up if I'm, if I'm right. So if so, can you, can you kind of tell us what the features are that people can look forward to?
Lent: The first thing is we're releasing all the time, you know, this is an agile continuous delivery, but we obviously know that schools need to have an understanding of what features are available for going into the next season.
We spent a lot of time on what we call data presentment. We intentionally don't use the word reporting because it goes beyond that, but you know, data that's embedded in context, where you are in the application, visualization of data, insights to help you make better decisions. Some of the table stakes things, like being able to schedule and deliver reports and data to the people that need it.
We're launching our first mobile credential IDX clients this summer.
So we did a lot of work just to make sure mobile credential is supported at the same level it was with our on-premise systems, you know, including our eAccounts mobile app, which by the way, I encourage people to check out the ratings.
You know, we're really proud of the, the ratings there because it's easy to say we care about user experience, but it's another thing to back it up with really high quality apps. We did a lot of work on this backwards compatibility, and we have hundreds of partners integrations with our legacy systems.
So we've added support for a lot of those legacy protocols just to bring those integrations forward.
We're doing a lot of stuff with security. So, we've done what I would call modern security integration with CS access, S2, Netbox, and Genia, so lots of security options for schools.
We've reimagined guest deposits, you know, Rasheed talked about entitlements, we've reimagined entitlements and privileges and that's coming out.
We have a cool feature around virtual card numbers. There is a lot of use cases for it, but one is working with mobile apps and apps where we don't want people to be able to pay with, you know, a single sign on or username and password.
And then we've done some modernization on our off-campus programs and the tech stack around that so that the off-camp campus programs will be renewed for the schools that have them and are continuing those going forward.
But that's just some of the big features, but a lot going on and wait two more weeks and there'll be more, more features we can tell you about just because that's how quickly the team is adding new capabilities and delivering value.
Q: Guys, I appreciate the time. Taran, Rasheed, have a great day. Thanks for, thanks for joining us and everybody out there. Thanks for, thanks for tuning in.
At Cal Poly Pomona, autonomous checkout systems are transforming the retail experience by removing staff from the checkout process.
In an interview with CampusIDNews, Al Padilla, Cal Poly Pomona’s Senior Manager for Retail IT, explained these frictionless systems. He says the AI-driven checkout solution from Mashgin allows students to enter a store, grab items, and leave without physically scanning products or handing over a card.
Overall, they have achieved a 75% reduction in staffing, a 30% increase in profits, and a 10–15% rise in transaction volume.
At Pomona, these stations have slashed checkout times from 90-seconds or more to just 12.5 seconds. This has virtually eliminated lines, and without lines students are less likely to pass the stores if time is tight.
Padilla says the integration with the Bronco OneCard and mobile credentials through Atrium Campus enables versatile payment options, including card swipes, taps, and QR code scans from mobile devices.
Though these systems minimize the need for checkout staff, some personnel remain to handle restocking, assist customers, and serve as concierges. Overall, they have achieved a 75% reduction in staffing, a 30% increase in profits, and a 10–15% rise in transaction volume.
To listen to the full interview, click the image at the top of this page.
Transcript
The autonomous systems that a lot of people are talking about today are systems that don't generally need staff involved in a transaction.
They are frictionless so you're not really handing over a card, you're not taking items and scanning them. The systems are doing all that for you.
So what's happening is students are walking into an area or an environment, picking up products, either setting them on a platform with a system and checking them out, or they're just grabbing a stuff, putting it in a bag, putting it in a pocket and just walking out.
So some people use that terminology, just walk out, as the name of the product, as Amazon does.
You have AiFi, which is another system, and Mashgin, which we use on campus at Cal Poly Pomona to help our students get in and out of the store quickly.
So when you talk about not having staff, we're talking about checkout staff.
They’re not scanning the items for you, or taking your card and taking payment or cash from you. Instead, that's where the systems come in and play, and they take that particular job.
So naturally, we do have someone there to still stock the store, or they also have other tasks that they'll do. They'll go out and they'll work at another store, then come over, do restocking, play concierge for a little while, do some upselling from the floor – instead of from behind the counter, and then of course, they're there also to make sure the students are able to run their transactions smoothly.
So any questions on product or anything like that, or different options for what they're looking for. We'll have someone to talk to.
We went from initially going 95% person-less to about 75%. We decided we want to make sure we have somebody there as a concierge, so we're 75% less staff than we were before.
The Bronco OneCard is used everywhere on campus.
So in a frictionless environment with Mashgin, what we're doing is we're using all the different types of credentials that you can.
You can tap a card, you can swipe a card, you can also use our mobile ID to scan a QR code, and all that's made possible with Atrium Campus and their integration with Mashgin.
Mashgin has been extremely successful for us in quite a few ways.
Number one, we've lowered the cost of our employee costs, 75% is where we ended up landing. We've increased our profit by 30% over the years. We have about 10% to 15% increase in transaction counts, and about 400% decrease in transaction times.
Checkout used to be upwards of a minute and a half to two minutes, now it's 12 and a half seconds.
So if you have 12 and a half second transactions, you have no lines, you have nobody walking by because they see that it's crowded, there's long lines, so they keep going, now they're coming in grabbing what they want and going.
So we're very conscious of people's time and trying to get to their next class.
One thing we want to think about moving into dining or food service is going to be like the concept, and we're just talking about trying to put it together right now, but kind of where we would have an area that would have three or four different concepts feeding food in from the back into warmers where people can do a lot of grab and go.
So if you came into an area, grab what you want to say you want, subway sandwich or a burrito, or a coffee or pastry.
You can go through, grab what you want on any of them, take all of those items to one central checkout, and go to a checkout from there, so you're able to visit three different concepts, four different concepts, and you should have one checkout process.
There's other autonomous systems out there, but I would say they're more expensive.
For us in our use case, being able to stand them up quickly and at a smaller cost, and still get AI technology and autonomous technology that works really, really well and super-fast.
I think that was the biggest thing for us, we were able to get them in, no construction costs, and have them stood up within five or six hours.
Today's students move fast. Their schedules are packed. Their expectations are high. For them, convenience isn't a perk, it's a necessity. That’s why campuses around the country are embracing smart food lockers as a solution to streamline campus dining.
But what makes smart locker implementations really work isn't just what you can see, it's the tech that connects it all behind the scenes
The actual locker is what the students see, but it's the tech integration that powers the experience. When mobile ordering apps and student ID platforms can work together seamlessly, it removes roadblocks, simplifies logistics, and speeds up deployment times.
The result? Faster rollouts, more efficient dining operations, and, of course, happier students.
Students expect food pickup to work just like everything else in their digital lives. Fast, flexible, and on their schedule. Smart food lockers deliver just that – secure, pickup points that allow students to grab their grub when it's convenient for them during the day.
For the experience to be seamless, the lockers have to integrate smoothly with the existing tech stack on campus – including the mobile ordering app and student ID platform.
However, for that experience to be as seamless as it sounds, the lockers have to integrate smoothly with the existing tech stack on campus. Whether that’s syncing with the dining app or sending a push notification to a student to know when their order is ready for pickup, the technology should work together seamlessly.
Schools that have leaned into this integrated approach are not only seeing strong returns in terms of student satisfaction, but in campus operations as well. With reduced traffic and more predictable kitchen operations, campus staff benefit just as much.
Smart lockers do not just serve students – they make life easier behind the counter and back of house, too.
Orders flow directly from mobile apps to the kitchen and into secure locker systems. No extra or unnecessary handling needed. Staff no longer need to manage order handoffs or deal with long pickup lines with hungry students. Instead, they can focus on making the correct order while the locker system takes care of getting the right order to the right student.
Whether they’re grabbing lunch between classes or a snack after practice, the pickup process stays the same: place the order, get the code, scan, grab, and go.
Because these types of systems also provide usage data, dining service teams can analyze trends like peak order times, which can help reallocate staff and resources. Integration enables this kind of visibility, allowing dining directors to make data-driven decisions that improve service time and have higher throughput.
Whether they’re grabbing lunch between classes or a snack after practice, the pickup process stays the same: place the order, get the code, scan, grab, and go.
This consistency with the pickup experience not only builds trust but also encourages adoption rates. Students don’t have to learn different systems or follow different steps for a variety of locations. Everything flows through one platform, one set of instructions, making it easier for students to get what they need without disruption or confusion.
As more colleges and universities prioritize digital transformation, integrated solutions like smart food lockers are essential to modern campus dining and life. But the real magic lies in the integration – the invisible threads connecting the unseen systems that simplify these workflows and enable fast and scalable deployments.
For campuses preparing for the next academic year, now may be the time to think holistically about a tech stack. When you choose solutions that are designed to work together, you’re not just investing in better food delivery, but a smarter, more connected campus that meets the needs of students and campus dining staff.
In August of 2024, news hit that Roper Technologies had acquired Transact. Roper already owned CBORD, and it was announced that the Transact would be combined with the CBORD business.
In October of that year Langer, who had served as Transact’s CEO since 2021, was named CEO of the combined company.
Days ago, via LinkedIn, Langer announced that she would be leaving the company.
“After much reflection, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave my position as the CEO of @Transact + @CBORD,” she says. “It has been by far the most difficult career decision given the incredible team and clients that have become a family to me over the last nearly 4 years.”
We’re conducting a thorough and thoughtful search to identify our next CEO, and we’ll share that information when we can.
Roper Technologies SVP and Group Executive, Harold Flynn, will step in as Interim CEO.
“Nancy has done a tremendous job leading our organization, and we wish her the very best in her new opportunity,” says Flynn. “Our commitment to delivering integrated, innovative solutions for clients across higher education, K-12, healthcare, and corporate sectors remains steadfast, and we’re committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition with uninterrupted support.”
Langer expressed her appreciation to her team and clients.
“Leading this organization has been the greatest honor of my career,” she says. “I’m beyond proud of what we’ve accomplished together – the challenges we’ve tackled, the milestones we’ve reached, and most of all, the culture of integrity, inclusion, and innovation we’ve built.”
The work to fill Langer’s position is underway.
“We’re conducting a thorough and thoughtful search to identify our next CEO, and we’ll share that information when we can,” says Flynn.
In April, Dan Park, former CBORD CEO and most recently COO of the combined Transact + CBORD organization, stepped away from his role for personal reasons following a period of helping integrate the two teams.
