It was announced this week that the Transact Mobile Credential now boasts native support for Google Pay, with the mobile credential experience expected to improve significantly for Android users. One of the first in a group of fifteen campuses set to deploy Mobile Credential for Google Pay, Mercer University, is already prepping for launch.

According to an official university release, Mercer University’s Bear Card will soon be available on student Android devices. Ken Boyer, associate vice president for auxiliary services at Mercer, says implementation and quality assurance testing is already underway on all Mercer campuses, with a full launch in Google Pay expected during the second quarter of 2020.

“Leveraging the NFC technologies available to us through the Transact System, along with our partnership with Transact, Google and others, allows us to be able to provide a ubiquitous solution for mobile credentials,” says Boyer. “We want to give our Mercer community the freedom of choice while providing convenient, reliable and secure service regardless of what platform is used for the Bear Card."

As with the other campuses to launch the solution, adding Mercer's Bear Card to Google Pay will provide campus community members with secure access to facilities, residence halls and more. Mobile Credential also supports payments at Mercer for dining, laundry, vending and retail at NFC-enabled readers both on campus and at local businesses that accept Bear Bucks.

Mercer will continue to offer the option of a physical Bear Card, in addition to the digital Bear Card being available in Apple Wallet and Google Pay. "Cardholders will have the choice to use the credential that meets their individual needs," says Boyer. "Mobile, via Android or iOS, or a traditional card."

Mercer's Bear Card in Apple Wallet and Google Pay is part of a larger, five-year plan by the university's Auxiliary Services department to transition the campus ID from legacy mag stripe to the more secure MIFARE DESFire EV2 contactless card technology. Mercer is keen to provide its campus community with a more convenient touch-and-go transaction experience along with greater security and reliability with advanced encryption. Mercer Auxiliary Services is working with a host of partners to achieve these aims including Transact, Allegion and others.