Is mobile access really just about replacing your plastic badge with your smartphone? Not even close.

At GSX 2026, I sat down with Xander for an unscripted conversation about where mobile access is headed, what organizations are getting wrong, and why the transition to mobile credentials is about much more than convenience.

We explore some of the most common misconceptions about mobile access, including why having a mobile credential doesn’t automatically mean you can add your badge to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and why organizations need to think differently about credential issuance and identity management.

We also discuss:

• The real ROI of mobile access: Why comparing the cost of a plastic card to a mobile credential misses the bigger picture.
• An 80% reduction in temporary badges: How one large enterprise dramatically reduced forgotten-badge requests after deploying mobile access.
• Mobile app vs. mobile wallet: Understanding the differences and why an app-based deployment can be a practical first step toward wallet-based access.
• Making the most of existing infrastructure: Why organizations may not need to replace every reader to begin their mobile journey.
• Digital transformation and physical security: Why we’re still using manual badge issuance processes when nearly everything else in the employee lifecycle has gone digital.
• Starting small: Why even organizations with tens of thousands of employees often begin with a few hundred mobile credentials.

One of my favorite points from the conversation is this:

If we were designing physical access control from scratch today, would we really build it around printing, distributing, replacing, and collecting plastic cards?

Probably not.

The transition to mobile access isn’t an overnight technology replacement. It’s a migration strategy that involves people, processes, technology, and a different approach to managing identity.

Whether you’re a security director, IT professional, systems integrator, or someone exploring mobile credentials for the first time, this conversation offers a practical perspective on where to start and what to consider along the way.

The takeaway? You don’t need to move your entire organization to mobile tomorrow. Find one place where mobile access solves a real problem, start there, and build on that success.

Have questions about mobile access or want to explore a pilot? Reach out. I’m always happy to have that conversation.

Phil Coppola, PSP
Mobile Evangelist, HID

Disclosure: This content was produced by me, in my capacity as an HID Employee. I am also a board-certified PSP (Physical Security Professional) by the ASIS International Organization.

Music License: 1246187

Mobile access has reached an interesting point. For many organizations, the question is no longer “Should we move to mobile?” It’s “How do we actually make it work at scale?”

Recorded at GSX 2026 in Atlanta, I sat down with Matt Bennett, SVP of Digital Transformation at Alert Enterprise, for a conversation about what happens after an organization decides to deploy mobile access.

We dig into one of the industry’s biggest challenges: moving beyond the pilot and actually driving adoption across thousands of users. That means treating mobile access as more than a credential technology. Successful deployments require communication, change management, internal champions, launch planning and a clear explanation of why the organization is making the change.

We also challenge the traditional cost comparison between a plastic badge and a mobile credential. The better question may be: What does your entire badge issuance program actually cost? Once you account for printing, distribution, temporary badges, lifecycle management and all the manual work surrounding a physical credential, the economics start looking very different.

And ultimately, that’s where the real value of mobile may be found. The tap at the door is easy to see. The bigger transformation is everything happening behind it: turning credential issuance into a digital workflow connected to the identity lifecycle.

Matt and I discuss:

• Why mobile adoption is fundamentally a change-management challenge
• How organizations can move from a small pilot to enterprise-wide adoption
• Why the phone itself may be the least interesting part of mobile access
• How to think differently about the economics of mobile credentials
• The hidden operational cost of temporary and replacement badges
• Why legacy hardware doesn’t necessarily make mobile an all-or-nothing project
• How organizations can approach mobile as a practical, multi-year migration rather than trying to “boil the ocean”

If your organization is already discussing mobile access, this conversation is less about why you should consider it and much more about how to get there successfully.

Featuring:
Phil Coppola, PSP | Mobile Evangelist, HID
Matt Bennett | SVP, Digital Transformation, Alert Enterprise

Disclosure: This content was produced by me, in my capacity as an HID Employee. I am also a board-certified PSP (Physical Security Professional) by the ASIS International Organization.

Is Mobile Access really just replacing a plastic badge with a phone?

If all you’re looking at is what happens at the door, it can certainly seem that way. You present a credential, the reader recognizes it, and the door opens.

But that’s probably the least interesting part of Mobile Access.

In this episode, Phil Coppola, PSP, Mobile Evangelist at HID, looks beyond the tap at the reader to explore the bigger opportunity behind mobile: automating credential provisioning, connecting physical access with enterprise identity systems, applying modern cybersecurity and Zero Trust principles, reducing the administrative burden of traditional badging, and using mobile as a catalyst to modernize legacy access control infrastructure.

Phil also tackles one of the most common misconceptions about Mobile Access: going mobile doesn’t mean eliminating physical ID badges. Instead, organizations can separate the visual identification function of the badge from the electronic key used to access the building, allowing them to transition at their own pace.

The real question isn’t whether your plastic badges still work.

It’s whether you would design your credential program the same way if you were starting from scratch today.

Because Mobile Access isn’t simply a credential project. It’s a digital transformation project.

Disclosure: This content was produced by me, in my capacity as an HID Employee. I am also a board-certified PSP (Physical Security Professional) by the ASIS International Organization.