HID, a global provider of trusted identity solutions, is now offering businesses the integration of their employee badges into digital wallets. Smartphone users can add the digitised credential to their wallet and gain mobile, seamless and secure access to their workplace.

The integration of employee badges into wallets is an extension of HID’s mobile access solution. With this application, users can already easily manage access control via a mobile device. What is new now is the link to digital wallets. Employees simply activate their digital badge in their smartphone wallets, identify themselves to their employers with their phone or smartwatch and then gain access to their workplace, but also to company applications. For this simple and digital form of authentication, companies only need NFC-enabled readers.

The employee ID card in the digital wallet offers other application examples besides access control. These include:

• Laptops and workstations: Logging in via digital employee badge instead of password.
• Secure printing: The printer only gives sensitive documents to authorised 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: in companies that have to meet compliance requirements, employees can easily clock in and out digitally.

The employee ID card in the digital wallet offers companies several advantages. On the one hand, the solution scores with increased security because the management of credentials via a cloud platform ensures high data integrity. Many mobile phones also have biometric identification and therefore serve as a second factor of authentication and an additional security barrier. In addition, digitised employee badges are particularly user-friendly. There is no waiting time for a physical card to be issued. Instead, smartphone owners have another service integrated into their device and gain access to the workplace with just a 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 wallets is their sustainability. The production of company ID cards and the matching sleeves devours a large amount 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 thus make an important contribution to achieving companies’ climate goals.

A current application example of the technology is 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 a brief contact of their device with NFC-readable turnstiles, users gain access.

“With digital employee badges, companies are accommodating the usage habits of their employees,” explains Markus Baba, Regional Sales Manager DACH at HID. “Smartphones are an integral part of private, but also professional life. Now that bank cards, even ID cards, are stored digitally there, we are very pleased that our solution now makes it possible to store employee ID cards in the digital wallets as well. Thus, smartphone users now have all important documents available in one place.”