Additional Purdue Mobile ID devices available for campus units, facilities wanting to take mobile credentials step

Nearly 14,000 Purdue University undergraduate students have already embraced the switch to Purdue’s new mobile credentials identification system, called Purdue Mobile ID. And teams from Purdue’s ID Card Operations/Support are working with faculty, staff and student organizations on special-use cases to ensure a smooth experience for their units and students.

Department heads, faculty and supporting staff who want to ensure their ID use cases and technology support Purdue Mobile ID can contact the university’s ID Card Operations/Support. A variety of technology solutions are available to fit each need, and units on campus have the option to purchase devices, which are proprietary. Devices also can be rented for special events.

“We’re excited to see the number of Boilermaker students who are adopting Purdue Mobile ID and quickly discovering the ease of use, security and convenience of having their Purdue ID on their smartphones or smartwatches,” says Loribeth Hettinger, senior associate bursar of ID Card Operations/Support. “They clearly are deciding to take their giant Purdue Mobile ID leap by embracing this new era of mobile credentials at a university with its strong tradition of innovation and technology leadership.”

Additional Information

• Purdue ID Card Operations/Support
• Video highlights ease of use of Purdue Mobile ID
• Purdue launches Purdue Mobile ID
• Purdue RecWell

Units that would benefit from obtaining new mobile credentials devices are those currently using a magstripe reader for authentication, validation or customer lookup, which typically connect to another system or computer, Hettinger said. A Wi-Fi or ethernet connection for the computer or other connected device is required for it to work properly.

Ruby Foster, who will be a sophomore this fall studying film and video production and theater, demonstrates the ease of using Purdue Mobile ID on her smartphone, instead of a hard-copy Purdue ID, to swipe into the Co-Rec. (Purdue University provided) Download image

Purdue Mobile ID, which launched April 19, allows students to add their PUID to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and use iPhone, Apple Watch or Android devices to conveniently and securely access buildings, purchase meals and more.

Faculty and staff on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus will continue to use physical IDs and are not participating in the Purdue Mobile ID program.  

Through Purdue Mobile ID, students can simply hold their device near a reader to access residence halls and campus buildings, make transactions using BoilerExpress, use their meal plans and even pay for laundry. The new Purdue Mobile ID for students is enabled for smartphones via Transact Mobile Credentials. 

Since its April launch, the move from physical cards to Purdue Mobile ID has allowed for transactions that are safe, convenient and secure, and helps students avoid handing their ID cards to someone else. In addition, Purdue can issue school IDs remotely without the need for students to request a mobile Purdue ID in person, eliminating the need to print and mail physical cards and creating a safer, more cost-effective and more environmentally friendly process. 

“The students I have asked that are using the Purdue Mobile ID say that they love it,” says Wiley Dining Court supervisor Sheri Strelec. “They are loving how convenient it is to use at all locations and that it seems to be working so well." 

Physical ID cards will be provided as an alternative for undergraduate students who do not have a smartphone device or if their device is not compatible with Purdue’s new mobile credentials system. Graduate students also may need physical cards in the short term because some academic buildings and laboratories will still require the physical Purdue ID card for access. 

A $25 fee will be assessed for a hard-copy Purdue ID card that has been requested, and a process is in place for students who can explain why the fee should be waived.

Within the mobile credentials system launched as Purdue Mobile ID is a strategy called Mobile First. This calls for all new students beginning this summer and fall to have a mobile ID on their smartphones and smartwatches. The goal is to eliminate the need for hard-copy ID cards for all 50,000 Purdue West Lafayette students over the next few years. 

In its first two months, 13,980 Purdue students have downloaded the Transact eAccounts app to use Purdue Mobile ID, including 4,203 students enrolled this summer and 4,287 planning to attend in the fall.

Allyson Goodrich, operations project manager for Student Life, says students indicate the steps to begin using the Purdue Mobile ID were clear and simple, and very few have said they did not want to have the app or their ID on their phones.

“Students who have provisioned Purdue Mobile ID enjoy the convenience of not having to take out their plastic PUID to access doors and meals or Purdue RecWell equipment and entrances at the Co-Rec,” she says. “Overall, most students are excited about the new mobile platform and the ease of use.” 

Judy Sharkey, food services director for Aramark at the Purdue Memorial Union, has been impressed by how quickly students have taken to Purdue Mobile ID, realizing it’s convenient, simple and a major time-saver.

“The students love not having to touch IDs at all anymore,” she says. “A few have said it speeds up the lines as well since they don’t have to wait for those students who don’t have their ID out when they get to the register. Personally, I’m looking forward to it for Boiler Gold Rush in August. Not having to wait for them to dig through everything to find their ID will be amazing.”

Purdue has been laying the groundwork to launch Transact Mobile Credentials since 2013, first by updating campus infrastructure for door readers and point-of-sale devices to be mobile-ready. Purdue is installing contactless and tap-to-pay technology using the Transact system through a phased approach across campus. 

Writer: Phillip Fiorini, pfiorini@purdue.edu, 765-430-6189