Card, mobile credential, payment and security
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has deployed mobile credentials with the help of Transact Campus. The mobile credential initiative will move student, faculty and staff Blugold cards to both Apple and Android devices.
According to an official university release, the mobile credentials will offer the campus community a ubiquitous use case, mirroring all the same capabilities of the physical Blugold cards.
“The digital ID can be used anywhere your physical Blugold ID card would be used,” said Kent Gerberich, chief information officer and director of the UW-Eau Claire’s Learning and Technology Services.
After first downloading the Transact eAccounts app, Wisconsin-Eau Claire community members can login with their UWEC credentials to begin the provisioning process.
Android users must first enable and turn on near-field communication (NFC), and set Google Wallet as their default payment application. From there the process is the same for both Apple and Android users.
According to Gerberich, the process of moving UWEC to mobile credential is a little over a year in the making.
“The first big step was finalizing the quote and getting everything purchased," Gerberich told student publication The Spectator. "From there a number of backend systems had to be updated."
"But, by far the biggest step was updating all 1000-plus doors on campus to allow for the digital ID to be used," he added.
The university is yet to decide if it will make the mobile credential the only form of student ID used on campus. Gerberich said that the idea of the digital ID replacing the physical card outright has been considered.
