As we approach 2025, the next steps in the evolution of mobile access will be shaped not only by the push for convenience and cost-effectiveness, but by the imperative to safeguard systems against emerging cybersecurity threats.
The past 20 years have witnessed a number of transformative technologies, but few rival the smartphone in terms of its impact on daily life. The smartphone is now an indispensable tool for communication, financial transactions, and accessing services. It has also become central to access control, with the industry moving from magstripe and proximity cards to smartcards to BLE mobile access and, now, NFC mobile credentials.
However, these advancements have brought challenges. The traditional approach to mobile access still revolves around reader upgrades, which are costly and inefficient for building owners and their tenants. Meanwhile, the rapid rise and transition to mobile access control has introduced another challenge: cybersecurity risks.
Here are the top 10 trends we envisage for the direction of mobile access in 2025 and beyond.
- NIST compliance: Mobile access control systems must adhere to NIST compliant cybersecurity standards and adopt robust encryption protocols to protect data transmitted between smartphones, access points, and central management systems.
- Sustainability: Increased demand for enterprises to go green and eliminate the endless cycle of plastic waste by reducing plastic credentials.
- Open standards for seamless interoperability: Mobile credentials will work with IoT and workplace systems for a fully connected experience.
- Smartphone biometric security: Technological improvements in fingerprint and facial recognition will make mobile credentials more secure than ever.
- Integration with identity and access management (IAM): Solutions must align with broader IAM frameworks to ensure seamless and secure user authentication.
- Zero Trust architecture: A security model that requires continuous verification of identity, device integrity, and network trustworthiness will become a standard for mobile access solutions.
- AI-driven analytics: Artificial intelligence will play a critical role in identifying and mitigating potential vulnerabilities and threats in real time.
- 5G-powered innovation: Faster authentication and improved user experiences.
- Increased cloud-driven control: Manage mobile access remotely with real-time updates and analytics. The move away from centralized server models will mitigate risks associated with single points of failure or breaches.
- Mobile access to become ubiquitous: mobile credential access to co-exist alongside physical credential and badges and eventually replace keycards and become the universal access key.
These trends emphasize the need to adopt solutions like readerless mobile NFC credential software that not only offers a seamless transition to mobile and enhances system security, but also provide robust protection against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, by using the smartphone as the active reader. Mobile access technologies must not only evolve to deliver greater convenience and efficiency but also adapt to the pressing challenges of cybersecurity. Survival in this digital age requires solutions that are agile, resilient, and secure – characteristics that define the next phase of access control evolution.
The future is mobile, secure, and smarter than ever. Are you ready to unlock it?
Contact us to find out more about readerless mobile credential software implementation and how it can help you keep up with 2025 trends.