The University of South Carolina will introduce mobile CarolinaCards for students, faculty and staff in 2026.
USC’s board of trustees approved a contract with the company Transact Campus to create the cards on March 17. Terry Parham, general counsel to the board and executive director of compliance programs, described the proposal to the board.
“What's proposed before you now is a contract with this company that will allow for the next iteration of the CarolinaCard by replacing the current physical card with mobile credentials,” he said. “The mobile credentials will allow all the same types of access and services that the old or current hard CarolinaCard did.”
Students will be able to choose which type of card they want. Joe Fortune, USC’s director of business affairs and a leader on the project, said the mobile credentials will not be mandated to everyone.
“If, for some reason, you think your physical card is going to serve you better, there won't be a mandate to change to the mobile card,” he said. “However, you can't have both.”
Incoming students in spring 2026 will be the pilot group for the mobile credentials, Fortune said. Hardware changes are planned for this summer to allow for the use of the mobile cards, he said.
Everyone that works or attends the university will have access to the cards on Aug. 26, 2026.
Students themselves were the impetus for the mobile credential, Fortune said.
“The project actually grew from students,” Fortune said. “And so it was students asking and also observing the experiences that their peers were having around the country, and saying, ‘why can't we have a digital card like Alabama or Tennessee?’”
Fortune said the mobile credentials will be free for students. If a student loses their physical card, a replacement costs $35, according to USC’s CarolinaCard site. This will not be a problem with the mobile credentials, Fortune said.
“I recently met with a member of Student Government senate,” he said. “Her constituents came to her about the $35 replacement fee for cards. And I said, ‘well, by the way, that won't be an issue going into the future, because once you go digital, you obviously don't have to do a replacement.’”
The mobile cards can be used on up to two devices, Fortune said. Students could, for example, store the card on their phone and a smart watch, he said. The cards will be stored in the Apple Wallet on iPhones, and work similarly to Apple Pay.
Mobile card holders will be able to access everything they could with the physical cards. This includes access to athletic events, Carolina Cash, access to facilities and more, Fortune said.
USC is not the first university in South Carolina to implement mobile credentials. Clemson University introduced them in 2019. In a press release from Clemson University, the mobile credentials were described as a “game changer” due to their convenience.
Fortune expects they would have the same results for USC.
“The CarolinaCard converting from a physical to a digital is really your passport to everything,” he said. “And now that it can be so much more convenient on your phone or a digital device, it’s going to be a game changer, we believe, for students.”
The contract with Transact Campus will be for $1,522,665.03 if extended to the maximum of five years, Parham said. The company was selected for the partnership after months of research and conversation with peer institutions, University Spokesperson Collyn Taylor wrote in a statement.
"We’re incredibly excited about the partnership and the future of our mobile credentialing process," Taylor stated. "This partnership is a step toward the future and improving convenience and security to our campus community.”
The board of trustees approved the contract unanimously.