Converged Card Capability for Enterprise and University Campuses

It’s been a topic for several years and an often theme of the Zalud Report in Security Magazine. Now HID Global has taken yet another step.

Its iCLASS secure contactless technology for physical and logical access control has been successfully combined with INSIDE Contactless’ MicroPass contactless payment platform featuring Visa payWave capability to enable the industry’s first converged card solution that incorporates identity and access control with payment. Recently debuted in a pilot for U.S. Bank, the converged solution enables U.S. Bank and Visa issuers worldwide to create new card programs using this converged solution, providing users with a single card that offers them the ability to gain access to secure buildings and facilities and make purchases. No longer are users required to carry multiple cards or tokens.

As the first card issuer in the United States to pilot the new converged solution, the U.S. Bank project also required the installation of HID’s iCLASS smart card readers at one of its Minneapolis, Minn., buildings, which are used for access control. Drawing upon HID’s 13.56 MHz iCLASS technology, the converged card offers a unique value proposition to campus and enterprise environments by enabling them to do more with a single card solution. Not only do systems managers within these campuses benefit from the greater utilization or display of student or corporate ID’s, users can appreciate the convenience of carrying a single card. In the pilot, users were able to make purchases using the U.S. Bank’s AccelaPay® Visa Card, a prepaid payroll account, then turn around and present the same card for physical access to their building or facility.

“As a leading provider of access control and identity solutions, HID’s partnership with INSIDE Contactless only further enables our customers to derive value from this combined offering,” said Mark Scaparro, senior vice president, Identification Solutions (IDS), for HID Global. “While the industry frequently talks about converged solutions, HID, together with INSIDE, has been able to take our industry leading positions as innovators in contactless payment and access control and leverage our technology to deliver this solution – a solution that is at the forefront of things to come as convergence becomes common place.”

“With its multi-application capability, the MicroPass platform is the ideal converged solution for organizations with corporate and campus environments looking to simplify their payment and access control schemes,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments, for INSIDE Contactless. “Not only does this solution make is possible to combine ID and access control applications with Visa PayWave contactless payments, it does it in a convenient and user-friendly format that is compelling to our customer base.”

“Combining these technologies into one card allows us to bring a new convenience to our customers,” said Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer of U.S. Bank retail payment solutions. “U.S. Bank is proud to have worked with all of our partners, who are leaders in their fields, to be the first to create and issue a card with this new technology.”

Additionally, iCLASS enables a wide range of logical/physical convergence solutions. Optimized to make identity and access control more powerful, iCLASS contactless smart card technology provides versatile interoperability and is used in such diverse applications as access control, cashless payment, PC logon, logical access, biometrics, handheld/mobile/wireless applications, time and attendance and many more.