Mobile credentials: A pioneering breakthrough

Revolutionising physical identity and access management with smartphone wallets, by LEGIC Identsystems’ Patrick Wimmer, John Harvey and Carl Fenger.

In today’s digital landscape, smartphones have evolved into essential multifunctional tools, serving as central hubs for everyday tasks such as payment, identification, health monitoring and communication.

The integration of access management with smartphones represents a pioneering breakthrough in the realm of physical identity and access management (PIAM), transcending the constraints associated with conventional mechanical keys and plastic keycards, which are frequently lost, misplaced, forgotten, copied or stolen.

Here are two approaches to achieve PIAM integration:

1. Smartphone wallet integration – by seamlessly merging the LEGIC Connect trusted service with Smartphone Wallets, your smartphone can now assume the role of a universal key for your office, home, hotel room and much more. Initially designed for storing digital credit, debit and loyalty cards, Smartphone Wallets have expanded their functionality to encompass transit pass, ID card, employee badge, hotel room key and resident key for private and multi-family homes

• Dedicated app – utilising the LEGIC Security Platform and mobile software development kit (SDK), building operators and hospitality service providers can create their own branded apps for access control, along with in-house payment solutions for vending machines, restaurants, parking facilities, EV charging stations and other amenities within their company, campus or hotel. These apps can be tailored to specific use cases, combining as well as bundling access with multiple adjunct services to enhance the user experience

The key advantage of Smartphone Wallets are their status as a native application integrated into the pre-installed mobile operating system.

This ensures automatic maintenance and updates by the mobile OS provider. Setup is quick and easy, and the addition of room, office and home keys to Digital Wallets is accomplished with just a few simple steps.

This frees the service provider from having to create, maintain, update and deploy a dedicated app.

Unlock your door in a second

Based on Near Field Communications (NFC) as well as Bluetooth Low Energy technology, Smartphone Wallets deliver a convenient user experience akin to using a traditional smartcard.

With the appropriate mode activated, you don’t even need to wake or unlock your device, enter a PIN or establish a network connection.

Just hold your smartphone near the reader to unlock.

It’s easy, convenient and private, eliminating the hassle of finding and launching an app which requires both hands – a significant improvement over dedicated applications.

Users can enhance security by activating biometric verification such as facial recognition within their Wallet.

Additionally, Smartphone Wallets function as a centralised repository for multiple virtual cards and keys, simplifying their use across a variety of applications provided by multiple unrelated service providers.

Get into your space, even when your smartphone needs a charge

Certain Smartphone Wallets can operate even when the battery is critically low, unlike dedicated apps that cease to function.

This feature is particularly valuable for access control scenarios where the ability to enter an office, hotel room or residence when the phone battery appears dead provides both convenience and peace of mind.

Integrate mobile wallet access with the LEGIC Security Platform

As part of the LEGIC Security Platform dedicated to supporting secure mobile services, LEGIC Connect comprises an OWASP-ASVS audited Trusted Service hosted on AWS, a Mobile SDK plus LEGIC Security Modules which include an RF transceiver (Bluetooth, NFC, RFID) and tamper-proof Secure Element (SM-6300 and the programmable SM-6310).

These modules are embedded in infrastructure-devices such as electronic locks, access wall readers, corporate printers, desktop readers for PC login and vending machines.

Together, these components establish a cryptographically secure, bidirectional channel from backend administration system to smartphone to infrastructure.

In addition to credentials, any data needing secure distribution to, or collection from electronic doors, lockers or containers such as firmware, cryptographic keys, whitelists, device status or certificates, can be securely transported via LEGIC Connect.

The LEGIC Wallet Program

LEGIC can help make your physical identity and access management products and services

compatible with popular smartphone wallets.

Elevate your PIAM systems by embracing smartphone wallet integration in the LEGIC Security Platform and propel your access control products and services into a new realm of security, efficiency and user satisfaction.

It’s easy, convenient and private!

For comprehensive information on how to make your LEGIC-based products and services compatible with smartphone wallets, please visit our Wallet Program webpage: www.legic.com/wallet

LEGIC Identsystems

For over 30 years, Swiss-based LEGIC Identsystems has enabled companies from around the world to deploy solutions with demanding security requirements.

Based on key management, trusted services and secure, contactless semiconductors, the LEGIC Security Platform provides end-to-end security for smartphone and smartcard-based access, mobility, shared resource and industrial IoT applications.