Blackboard bringing NFC student IDs to iPhone and Apple Watch with iOS 12
We heard rumors last month that Apple was going to expand the NFC capabilities for iPhones and the Apple Watch with iOS 12 to enable options for hotel chains and other contactless access features. It wasn't something that Apple mentioned on stage during WWDC, but it seems the rumors were accurate because Blackboard has announced it is coming to the iPhone.
Blackboard might be known to students already because it has an app to help with scheduling, campus maps, assignments and grade tracking. And, it has been available as an NFC contactless student ID option for some Android devices for about one year. Now, Blackboard will be the first contactless student ID system made available on Apple devices. With Blackboard Mobile Credentials, students will just have to add their student ID to Apple Wallet and be able to use their iPhone or Apple Watch as either an access device to get into campus buildings or as a payment system at campus vending machines and cafeterias, pulling money from your student account.
At launch when iOS 12 hits in the fall, Blackboard will be enabled for students at the University of Alabama, Duke University, and the University of Oklahoma withJohns Hopkins University, Santa Clara University, and Temple University planned to be added before the year is out.
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