Reimagining building access for a 241-year-old institution, BNY found promise in mobile access solutions by starting with a simple question to its employees.
Their feedback was overwhelmingly supportive. The company realized the potential of modernizing access to workspaces, allowing employees globally to use just their iPhone or Apple Watch to enter buildings.
Initiative Brings Global Smiles
The concept of mobile access is gaining traction at BNY, with Ken Damstrom, Global Head of Corporate Security, noting its broad appeal.
"The whole idea of people navigating around our facilities globally — it just brings a smile to your face," he stated. Beyond the novelty, the convenience of not needing a physical ID badge resonates widely with the staff.
Strategic Partnerships Foster Progress
BNY collaborated with connected access network provider SwiftConnect and mobile access company HID
To bring this vision to life, BNY collaborated with connected access network provider SwiftConnect and mobile access company HID.
Key technologies in their approach include the employee badge in Apple Wallet, HID’s mobile-enabled Signo readers, and SwiftConnect's unified access network. These innovations allow employees and guests to use their mobile devices for seamless and secure entry into corporate spaces.
Seamless and Secure Access
BNY’s initiative integrates the employee badge in Apple Wallet with HID’s technology, enabling users to access doors, turnstiles, elevators, and more by simply having their iPhone or Apple Watch near a reader.
SwiftConnect combines identity and access management into one system, facilitating smooth access without the hassle of traditional fobs or cards.
Expanding Mobile Access Worldwide
The roll-out began at BNY's headquarters in New York City and is expanding to offices in Boston, London, India
The roll-out began at BNY's headquarters in New York City and is expanding to offices in Boston, London, India, and beyond. The goal is to implement this technology across 110 locations in 35 countries.
Dafna Alsheh, Global Head of Workplace Experience & Design at BNY, emphasized that the consistency of using the employee badge in Apple Wallet ensures that employees can navigate any facility with ease.
Privacy and Security at the Forefront
Privacy and security are integral to the new system; employee data remains solely on their devices and is not shared with Apple.
If a device is lost, users can quickly lock it via the Find My app. This ensures a secure experience while maintaining user control over their information.
Unified User Experience
Dafna Alsheh highlighted the simplicity of the system: "One of the things that makes employee badge in Apple Wallet really impactful is that it works the same at work as it does when they’re at the store or on the subway."
The ease of use and consistent employee experience have drawn positive responses, with many appreciating the seamless integration into their daily routine.
How do you rethink and transform building access for a 241-year-old company? BNY started by asking employees. The response was encouraging. The BNY team found that employees embraced the concept of mobile access solutions.
The thought of implementing access solutions was already being considered by the company and the team was excited about the idea of providing a modern experience that allows employees worldwide to conveniently access their building spaces with a simple iPhone or Apple Watch.
How powerful of a concept
“The whole idea of people navigating around our facilities globally — it just brings a smile to your face,” said Ken Damstrom, Global Head of Corporate Security at BNY.
“But it really brings a smile to their face because when they come to work they come with their iPhone they don’t necessarily need to come with their (physical) ID badge and how powerful of a concept is that?”
Getting started with the right team
To put everything in motion, BNY engaged connected access network provider SwiftConnect and mobile access provider, HID. Selecting experienced and reputable partners was important for BNY, along with the technologies that they brought to the table.
For this project, those technologies included employee badge in Apple Wallet alongside HID’s mobile-enabled Signo readers and the reliability of the SwiftConnect connected access network.
How does the technology work?
Two key components of BNY’s initiative were essential to its success. Employee badge in Apple Wallet, paired with HID’s mobile-enabled Signo readers gives employees and their guests easy and secure access to corporate spaces using only their iPhone or Apple Watch. Users can simply hold their device near a reader to access doors, turnstiles, elevators, spaces and more.
SwiftConnect unifies identity and physical access into one effortless experience, connecting systems and spaces into a unified network. It supports on-demand access via mobile credentials and optimizes existing methods like fobs and cards for secure, consistent access — replacing friction with fluidity at every interaction.
“What we learned by partnering with SwiftConnect and HID was employee badge in Apple Wallet was absolutely ready for prime time,” said Ken Damstrom. “We’ve had nothing but confidence in rolling it out in our organization.”
Making mobile access technology a reality
With full support from their partners, BNY launched their new mobile access solution at their headquarters in New York City, then expanded to other offices in Boston, London and India, as well as others. They’ll continue until every BNY office worldwide is using the technology — at 110 locations in 35 countries.
Regardless of which country the technology is implemented, employee badge in Apple Wallet will work the same across BNY’s facilities. That’s important because their employees can seamlessly and securely enter and move around multiple locations.
Also, with Express Mode, employees do not need to unlock their device to use their employee badge in Apple Wallet. Even if the phone needs to be charged, the device can still be used to access spaces with Power Reserve mode.
Advantage of privacy and security
When an employee has an employee badge in Apple Wallet, their data is never shared with Apple or stored on Apple servers. If their iPhone or Apple Watch is misplaced, the owner of the device can promptly use the Find My app to lock the device and help locate it.
Employee badges in Apple Wallet are stored on personal devices and take full advantage of the privacy and security built into iPhone and Apple Watch.
“We wanted consistency across our real estate portfolio, so whether you’re in New York, Lake Mary or London, you know how to access the site because you know how to use employee badge in Apple Wallet,” said Dafna Alsheh, Global Head of Workplace Experience & Design, BNY.
Combination of technologies
The combination of these technologies is now helping BNY create that convenient, quick access experience for employees — while ensuring a secure workplace.
“One of the things that makes employee badge in Apple Wallet really impactful is that it works the same at work as it does when they’re at the store or on the subway because you don’t have to teach people how to use it,” said Dafna Alsheh.
“We’ve had people who are like, ‘wow this just works.’ But when they realize they can use their Apple Watch, then they’re like, ‘this is magic.’”
