HID: Digital Wallets Replace Physical Employee Badges

Integrating employee badges with digital wallets is an extension of HID's mobile access solution. With this application, users can already easily manage access control from a mobile device. What's new is the integration with digital wallets. Employees simply activate their digital badges in smartphone wallets, identify themselves to their employers with their phone or smartwatch and then gain access to their workplace and corporate applications. To use this simple and digital form of authentication, all businesses need is an NFC-enabled reader.

In addition to access control, there are several other applications for the employee ID card in a digital wallet. These include:

• Laptops and workstations: Log in with a digital employee ID instead of a password.
• Secure printing:The printer issues sensitive documents only to authorized users who identify themselves via the Digital Wallet.
• Access restrictions: Granular access control for restricted areas.
• Use of charging stations: Employees unlock company-owned charging stations for e-cars through their mobile wallet.
• Attendance management: For organizations that need to meet compliance requirements, employees can easily clock in and out digitally.

The employee ID card in the digital wallet offers companies several benefits at once. On the one hand, the solution offers increased security, as the management of credentials via a cloud platform ensures high data integrity. Many mobile phones also have biometric identification, providing a second factor of authentication and an additional layer of security. In addition, digitized employee badges are extremely user-friendly. There is no waiting time for a physical card to be issued. Instead, smartphone owners have another service built into their device and gain access to the workplace with a simple touch. Turnstiles even read the wallets much faster than physical cards, so there is hardly any waiting time at the entrance.

Another important argument for integrating employee ID cards into digital wallets is sustainability. The production of corporate ID cards and the matching sleeves consumes large amounts of plastic. In addition, companies often have to reissue the cards several times if they are lost. Digital employee ID cards, on the other hand, consume fewer resources and help companies meet their climate change goals.

11 Apr 2024 - HID Introduces Mobile Credentials in Google Wallet

A recent example of the technology is at 22 Bishopsgate, London's tallest and most modern building. To gain access to the offices, employees can add a digital employee badge to their Apple Wallet. After briefly touching their device to NFC-readable turnstiles, users gain access.

"With digital employee badges, companies are adapting to the usage habits of their employees," said Markus Baba, Regional Sales Manager DACH at HID. "Smartphones are an integral part of our personal and professional lives. Now that bank cards and even ID cards are stored digitally on smartphones, we are very pleased that our solution now makes it possible to store employee ID cards in the digital wallet as well. This means that smartphone users now have all their important documents in one place.”