Singapore's Nanyang Technological University is now issuing smart cards to students that will be used to make payments and enable access to campus facilities.

According to a Today report, the new smart cards will be used pay for meals at campus dining locations, reserve campus facilities like sports venues and study rooms, pay for campus parking, as well as act as a public transit card.

Dubbed the NTU Smart Pass, the new student ID cards will act as the identity credential for the university's some 33,000 students and staff members. The cards feature an embedded contactless chip, and have Nets FlashPay functionality to support the university's partnership with payment solutions provider, Nets.

The smart card initiative comes as part of a larger initiative to transform NTU into the “largest smart campus in Singapore.” The smart card was officially launched this week, and is ready for use at 80% of the university’s canteens, with further on-boarding scheduled over the next few months. The majority of campus retail and dining locations are already equipped with the Nets contactless payment system, so the university expects the transition to contactless payments to be a smooth one.

The smart cards are also expected to ramp up safety and security on campus, as they will serve as personalized keys for student access to residence halls, offices, laboratories and facilities. That aspect of the transition is expected to take longer to deliver, as additional time will be needed for older campus facilities to be properly outfitted to accommodate the new smart card credentials.

The campus medical center will also benefit from the new smart cards, as future plans will see students use the card to register for health checks and consultations. At residence halls, meanwhile, the university plans to install smart vending machines complete with contactless and cash-free payment systems.