Card, mobile credential, payment and security
The one-card formula doesn't just suit college campuses, it can also be applied to other verticals and K12 environments to refine identity management processes.
Despite a large portion of Heartland OneCard's business residing on collegiate campuses, the company also works to meet the needs of corporate, preparatory and academy campuses. One of the company's more recent projects can be found at Oaks Christian School -- a private, college preparatory school located in Westlake Village, Calif.
Since opening its doors in 2000, Oaks Christian has experienced rapid growth on campus. The student body is also thriving, with nearly 500 students currently enrolled in grades 5 through 8 and a further 1,000 students in grades 9 through 12.
To meet the school's expansions, Oaks Christian was intent on providing a better overall student experience, with its leadership determining that a comprehensive campus card system could help them achieve that goal. The school's previous ID card system lacked cohesion and was set up to operate multiple individual solutions independently, such as using a standard retail gift card for purchases in the school's dining facilities. The goal was to bring the existing systems and functions together into a single program and add further functionality to the ID, create a positive impact on student services and help consolidate existing systems.
Oaks Christian was searching for a partner to help the campus provide new services to students and found the ideal fit with Heartland. "OneCard has enabled us to operate more efficiently while increasing services," says Darrell Parker, Director of Information Systems at Oaks Christian School. "They have been there for us every step of the way and we are happy we’ve chosen Heartland as our campus card partner.”
In the first phase of implementation, Oaks Christian launched a new, redesigned ID card, as well as added the ability for the new credential to be used in the school's dining facilities and bookstore to make purchases. Students are also able to pay for on-campus printing with the new credentials through an integration with PaperCut.
The Oaks Christian dining facilities were also in need of a new point-of-sale (POS) solution. The school wanted to implement new terminals with a fresh look, sleeker profile, and that was reflective of the campus’ use of new technology. The school opted to deploy 18 OneCard Tablet POS terminals making Oaks Christian the first campus of its kind to use tablet POS as its standard terminals.
Another area in need of overhaul was account management. It was reported that with the previous system some parents found it difficult to add funds to their student’s account to then make purchases on campus. The first upgrade made to the school’s old system was the implementation of OneWeb, OneCard’s online account management portal. With OneWeb, parents can not only add funds to their student's account, but the students themselves are able to check their balances, view transactions and connect with their OneCard.
Oaks Christian has also embraced OneCard Mobile, Heartland's mobile app that acts as a student's single point of access to campus services. OneCard Mobile allows students to use their smartphone as a virtual ID card, to make purchases and to manage their OneCard account.
Future plans for the OneCard at Oaks Christian include possible integration with campus vending machines, concession stand purchases at athletic events and payments at the school box office for event ticketing.
