Contactless Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Now Available for Santa Clara University Students - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Contactless Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Now Available for Santa Clara University Students

Students at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California are now able to add their ACCESS student IDs to the Wallet app on the iPhone and the Apple Watch, allowing their devices to be used to access buildings, attend athletic events, purchase meals, check out library books, and more.

contactlessstudentid
Once a student ID card has been added into the Wallet app, students can use an iPhone or Apple Watch in lieu of a physical card by holding their device near a reader. The contactless student ID can be used anywhere the physical ID card is required.

Santa Clara University is located close to Apple's Cupertino headquarters, and it was one of the universities that worked with Apple and partner company Transact during the pilot program for contactless student IDs.

SCU expects that most of its 5,500 undergraduate students will be using the mobile student ID system by the end of the year.

Apple first announced plans to bring contactless student IDs to iPhone and Apple Watch at the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference, and rolled out the first IDs in October 2018.

Since then, Apple has added additional universities to the program, and participants include Marshall University, Clemson University, Duke University, University of Oklahoma, University of Alabama, Georgetown University, University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, University of San Francisco, University of Vermont, Arkansas State University, South Dakota State University, Norfolk State University, Louisburg College, University of North Alabama, and Chowan University.

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Sunday August 16, 2026 8:24 pm PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to the...
apple camera airpods

Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods Confirmed: See Them in Action

Monday August 17, 2026 6:21 pm PDT by
Apple is working on camera-equipped AirPods that appear to be nearly ready to launch, based on a video MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate. In a short demo, a man holds a book up so the camera in the AirPods can see the title. "With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," says the voiceover text. Here ...
iPhone 18 Pro Dark Cherry Feature

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra: New Details Leak as Apple Event Nears

Monday August 17, 2026 11:09 am PDT by
"iPhone Ultra" supply will be very limited when the foldable device is first released later this year, according to Fixed Focus Digital, a known leaker on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The account also claimed that the iPhone 18 Pro's A20 Pro chip will be up to 18% faster and up to 30% more power efficient compared to the iPhone 17 Pro's A19 Pro chip. The A20 Pro chip will be the...

Top Rated Comments

85 months ago

So you did not access buildings there, attend athletic events, purchase meals, and more? Do not, others do it.
Locks on campus doors have become much more prevalent in recent years both due to "security incidents" and actually increased awareness of the sensitivity of research data and IP.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
85 months ago

how do you do this? I have a contactless card and cannot find any way to do this ...

Include me, I like to know how you do this.
On an iPhone of course...
No endorsements:
https://passninja.com/
https://passkit.com/
https://www.passsource.com/
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
85 months ago

Is there any way available to contact this feature for personal use? For instance, could I make an app for a private club, add that club's membership card to the wallet app, and use it to open magnetically locked doors, pay member dues, etc? Or is this feature set not available to devs?
Yes, via NFC enabled passes. You can do it yourself or there's third-party services to simplify it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
85 months ago

What a time to be alive!
It’s also a great time to be undead, as it turns out.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonblatho Avatar
85 months ago
This feature is so great. I got to use it at OU for much of my last year there.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
85 months ago

Yes, via NFC enabled passes. You can do it yourself or there's third-party services to simplify it.

how do you do this? I have a contactless card and cannot find any way to do this ...
Include me, I like to know how you do this.
On an iPhone of course...




I already use my watch for the vending machine at work. It would be nice to also be able to use it for building access.
That's ApplePay (I think), different animal.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)