CatCard Convenience: Accessing Campus Just Got Easier
The University of Arizona’s CatCard is an essential tool for students, staff, and faculty, serving as the gateway to campus life. This single card provides access to buildings and rooms, manages funds, facilitates parking garage entry and exit, and much more. With such vital functionality, the CatCard is undeniably valuable.
However, this reliance on a physical card comes with challenges—keeping track of it, the hassle of carrying it everywhere, and the risk of misplacing it. Losing or forgetting a CatCard can disrupt daily routines, preventing access to buildings, delaying purchases, and adding unnecessary stress. We've all felt the frustration of not having a critical item when we need it most. Plus, carrying yet another card only adds to an already crowded wallet filled with IDs and payment methods.
The university is committed to enhancing the experiences by listening to campus needs and adapting to evolving expectations. As students increasingly seek a more convenient way to carry their CatCard, the Business Affairs Technology Services Team (BATS) has coordinated with other units on campus to come up with an innovative solution to streamline campus life and eliminate these common pain points. The CatCard to mobile devices is an excellent example.
The IT centralization proved to be a pivotal factor in launching the mobile pilot, a theme woven throughout the project’s success. Members of the BATS team shared that it enabled a closer working relationship with key central teams such as the University of Arizona App (UA App), Boomi Integrations, and Enterprise teams. Without these relationship, it would not be possible to bring this offering to campus.
By assembling a talented group of individuals across UITS, several key advancements became possible. The teams, now composed of developers from 20+ enterprise systems, collaborated to integrate the technology using a “single source of truth,” enabling real-time updates to the CatCard. This project provided an opportunity to take a holistic view of multiple systems, re-engineer processes, and seamlessly introduce this functionality to campus. Beyond enhancing continuity and convenience, by overhauling the infrastructure and embracing innovation over tradition the team will successfully reduce expenses while improving efficiency.
The centralization of services has paved the way for key partnerships, making this new offering possible. At the heart of this effort is the UA App, which serves as the gateway for adding the CatCard to mobile devices. The UA App team has reimagined the user experience, ensuring a seamless and intuitive process. Additionally, integrating downstream systems with CatCard data relies on critical collaboration, particularly through the Boomi platform. To maintain flexibility and avoid dependence on a single vendor, a BATS developer built the card lifecycle management system in-house, demonstrating the power of innovation and strategic partnerships.
The digital CatCard offers the same functionality as its physical counterpart, seamlessly providing access to all services and facilities at participating locations.
Delivering this unparalleled level of convenient access through a digital wallet requires more than just integrating mobile devices. The team understands that success hinges on modernizing building access systems to ensure full smartphone compatibility, transforming the way the campus connects and operates.
Achieving this is no small feat. This project involves an extensive overhaul of building access hardware—approximately 3,000 readers need to be removed and replaced with state-of-the-art model systems and reducing fifteen different models to just two. Each week, more buildings are being updated to accept this new technology, made possible through the partnership with Amer-X.
In addition to the obvious benefit of convenience, there are other’s to this technology. Digitizing building access via smartphones offers an additional key advantage: enhanced safety. One of the major benefits this brings is improved safety protocols. With the digital CatCard, changes can be quickly communicated with all downstream systems for access control. This allows the university to respond swiftly to any public safety concerns, ensuring we maintain a secure campus environment.
By enabling the CatCard to live in a digital wallet not only places identification conveniently at the user’s fingertips but also offers potential cost savings for the cardholders. Each physical CatCard replacement costs $25—a fee users can avoid by being able to transfer to a device free of charge. Sustainability is also a key aspect of this initiative. The BATS team anticipates a reduction of nearly 6,500 plastic cards and chip sets in the first semester alone, significantly minimizing environmental impact.
Remarkably, this initiative has evolved rapidly, progressing in just seven months. Its swift success is a testament to the strong campus partnerships, enthusiasm, and positive reception from colleges, buildings, and services eager to participate.
What’s Next?
The CatCard is continuing to evolve, becoming available in a variety of mobile wallets across different platforms. Access will expand further as new partnerships are established. Stay updated on the progress of this exciting project by visiting the Mobile CatCard page.