Purdue University has adopted a mobile credential first approach to ID issuance, with all new undergraduate students for the current summer sessions and Fall 2023 semester being issued a Purdue Mobile ID. Students will be provisioned the mobile credential in lieu of a physical ID card as part of Purdue’s ongoing push toward what it calls a Mobile First ID system.

According to an official university release, mobile first ID issuance begins this week for the more than 700 incoming freshmen that will attend Purdue's Boiler Gold Rush early orientation event.

“‘Mobile First’ is a strategy used by many universities, and at Purdue, all incoming new students for our Early Start/Summer Start sessions and the upcoming fall semester will be issued a Purdue Mobile ID, which will become their primary identification on campus,” says Loribeth Hettinger, senior associate bursar of ID Card Operations/Support at Purdue.

“Physical ID cards, meantime, will be provided as an alternative to undergraduate students who do not have a smartphone device or if theirs is not compatible with Purdue’s new mobile credentials system," adds Hettinger. "We want to stress that this major step in our just-launched Purdue Mobile ID initiative for students is ‘Mobile First,’ not mobile only.”

Purdue launched its Mobile ID with Transact on April 19, 2023 thanks to a joint effort by the ID Card Operations/Support, Student Life and Purdue Information Technology. Purdue Mobile ID enables students to add their credential to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and use their iPhone, Apple Watch or Android device to access residence halls and campus buildings, make transactions using BoilerExpress, use their meal plans and pay for laundry.

Purdue has been preparing its transaction environment for mobile credentials since 2013, beginning with door reader infrastructure and point-of-sale updates. The university is also installing contactless and tap-to-pay technology using the Transact system through a phased approach across campus.

Since its April launch, nearly 14,000 students have downloaded the Transact eAccounts app to provision their Purdue Mobile ID. That figure includes the roughly 4,200 new students enrolled in the current summer session and an additional 4,287 due to begin classes this fall.

Purdue's Mobile First initiative calls for all new students beginning fall 2023 to have a mobile ID on their smartphone and smart watch. As part of the initiative, Purdue has a stated goal of eliminating the need for physical ID cards for all 50,000 of its West Lafayette students within the next few years.

Physical ID cards will still be provided as an alternative to undergraduate students who either don't own a smartphone or for those whose device is not compatible with the new mobile credential system. The ID Card Operations/Support office will assess a $25 fee for any physical Purdue ID card issued, but the office has a process in place for students to optionally appeal and explain why the fee should be waived.

In the near term, there is still a limited need for physical cards for select graduate students requiring access to academic buildings, laboratories and other facilities that have not yet been updated to accept mobile access. Faculty and staff on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus will continue to use physical IDs and are not included in the mobile ID program.