From plastic cards to secure digital identity with SystemHouse Solutions

For SystemHouse Solutions, the leading enterprise security provider in Scandinavia, we delivered an ambitious transformation of access systems for universities, the public sector, and corporate environments. We helped replace physical plastic cards with PassGate – a fully digital identity integrated directly into the phone’s native wallet. The result is a highly available infrastructure built for tens of thousands of users, one that works even when the phone is out of battery and helps institutions significantly reduce administrative and logistical costs.

Plastic cards used to be the standard, but today they represent more of a logistical and security burden for large organizations. Lost cards, replacements, and physical distribution cost both time and money. Our client came up with a vision to eliminate plastic, but the project faced difficult challenges from the start. The expectation to deliver a functional product within 2-4 months collided with the reality of technical complexity. Integrating the modern Apple PassKit with often outdated university systems and existing hardware was not just a matter of code, but also of searching for solutions in incomplete third-party documentation and struggling with frequent changes in the API.

We began the project with an in-depth feasibility analysis. We held a series of technical workshops to verify whether modern APIs could reliably communicate with the client’s existing systems. This phase allowed us to clearly define priorities and eliminate dead ends before a single line of code was written.

We then based the design process on an understanding of real-life situations. Through interviews with future users, we mapped out their daily routines and critical moments. We therefore created interactive prototypes, which we tested directly in the field. Feedback helped us fine-tune key details, such as the app's behavior in offline mode or its intuitiveness when quickly passing through turnstiles, so that the technology never slows the user down. We therefore conceived the app itself as a simple utility with a clear purpose: to securely deliver the card to Apple Wallet.

The key to success was the native integration with Apple Wallet, which removes barriers to usage. Students don’t need to unlock their phones or search for an app – thanks to Express Mode, all they need to do is tap their device to the reader, just like when paying with a smartwatch.

We designed the system to withstand critical situations. With an offline-first architecture and secure local tokens, access continues to work even when the internet goes down. An even more essential innovation is the use of Power Reserve, which allows students to enter their dorms for hours after their phone has run out of battery. To avoid dependence on a single vendor, we relied on standardized MIFARE® DESFire® technologies, ensuring compatibility with any certified hardware.

To ensure maximum stability, the system operates across multiple regions with automatic failover in case of an outage. We have procedures in place for immediate service recovery (Disaster Recovery), which in practice means continuous operation and zero impact on the user even during unexpected incidents.

The deployment itself was carried out as a gradual rollout. Thanks to our CI/CD pipeline and a series of automated stress tests, we were able to simulate thousands of access attempts at once before going live. This DevOps approach allowed us to safely deploy new versions and respond to changes in Apple’s API without disrupting the smooth operation of the universities.

We have also developed a centralized control panel called PassGate Admin for administrators, which radically simplifies the card lifecycle. Issuing a new access card or immediately blocking it in case of loss now takes seconds, not days, which has significantly reduced the manual workload of security and administrative staff.

Thanks to API integration with the Access Control System, the management of digital cards remains identical to that of plastic cards, with the difference that it is no longer necessary to physically distribute cards to users.

Successful implementation on the iOS platform has laid the foundations for further development. We are currently working on expanding support for Android devices, including specific solutions for Samsung, in order to cover the entire spectrum of users.

At the same time, we are preparing to integrate additional services, which will make PassGate a comprehensive digital wallet for modern life.