Digital wallets for hotel access cards gain ground with Apple, Google on board

If ever a use case was made for digital wallets, it is hotel access keys. Numbers suggest that if all hotels in the U.S. are taken into account, over 750 tons of plastic hotel key cards and sleeves end up in landfills each year. And nobody is asking to have to carry around a highly-losable card that hundreds of others have handled in order to get into their room.

Providers are noticing the opportunity. More than 70 percent of consumers in Brazil, France, Germany, the UK and the U.S. are already using a digital wallet. Travel is a key driver. In a recent blog, Youverse notes that “in today’s fast-paced world, travelers crave a seamless hotel experience, paperwork and hassle-free.” An ideal experience might take place entirely on mobile, from booking through to biometric check-in, key card access, restaurant ordering, premium status and perks.

“As eIDAS 2.0 enforces mandatory digital wallet acceptance by 2026, the hospitality industry stands at a crossroads,” it says. “By embracing digital wallets with Youverse, you’ll not only comply with regulations but unlock a world of benefits. Guests will experience a frictionless checkout, while your hotel enjoys streamlined operations and enhanced security.”

Google Wallet is among the digital identity wallets that now accommodate hotel keys, launching this past summer with the Clarion Hotel Post in Gothenburg, Sweden. Per instructions on Google’s help forum on how to add a hotel key to your digital wallet, “in Google Wallet, you can safely and securely use your hotel keys to access your Hotels, guestrooms and key card-protected common areas like gyms, pools and elevators throughout the duration of your stay.”

A survey from CNBC says that to date, only 14 percent of guests surveyed at branded hotels use digital keys. But with major DI wallet players like Google and Apple embracing hotel keys, and hotel chains such as Hilton starting to get on board, there is reason to believe Eli Fuchs, the hospitality director quoted in their report, who says “traditional hotel room keys are staring down the end of their existence.”

If there are speed bumps, they will be in the form of transitional costs to replace locks and update systems, and in accommodating human habits. But collectors of historical oddities should probably begin accumulating hotel key cards now, before they disappear into the digital ether.

As far as adoption goes, adding no-brainer use cases for digital wallets will help add momentum to adoption. A recent intelligence report from Pymnts proposes that “high satisfaction among those who nontransactionally use digital wallets suggests that the key is to open up further availability and use cases.” Opening up the hotel room door is a good place to start.

Article Topics

Apple Wallet  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  Google Wallet  |  hospitality  |  mobile app