Mobile wallet access expands at Melbourne office tower

HID and Kodaa have expanded mobile wallet-based building access at 101 Collins Street in Melbourne, where the system is now used daily by thousands of tenants and visitors.

Live for nearly a year, the deployment covers more than 35 tenancies in one of Melbourne's best-known office buildings. Users can enter the building, use lifts, open lockers and access end-of-trip facilities through a mobile wallet instead of a physical access card.

The project reflects a broader shift in commercial property access systems as landlords and tenants seek digital tools to reduce administrative delays. At 101 Collins Street, access requests, approvals, updates and revocations are now handled through a central portal instead of manual card processes.

According to the companies, that has cut access management times from days to minutes. The system was introduced without fully replacing existing infrastructure, with mobile credentials added to the current environment.

Mobile access

HID provides the mobile credential technology behind the system, while Melbourne-based consultancy Kodaa delivered the deployment. The arrangement places secure access credentials directly into users' mobile wallets, allowing occupants and visitors to use their phones for routine entry across the site.

Commercial property managers have been testing mobile access for several years, but many deployments have remained limited in scope or confined to pilots. The companies present the 101 Collins Street installation as an example of a broader roll-out operating in everyday building conditions.

Steve Katanas, Head of ANZ for HID Physical Access Control Solutions, said the move away from plastic cards marked a major shift for the sector.

"Through HID's proven ecosystem of credentials and readers, we enable partners like Kodaa to deliver frictionless, mobile-first experiences at scale," Katanas said.

He said the change also addressed a long-running debate over ease of use and security in workplace systems.

"There's often a perceived trade-off between security and convenience, but mobile access solutions remove that compromise entirely by combining strong identity and device-level security, which sets a new benchmark for workplace access control," Katanas said.

Tenant demand

Kodaa said user uptake at the site has remained strong beyond the initial launch period, suggesting office workers and visitors are comfortable using a phone-based approach for day-to-day movement through a commercial tower.

"A year on, we're supporting thousands of active users, and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. People don't want to go back. Also, the project didn't require a full infrastructure overhaul. The integrated solution is built to work with existing systems and HID ensures modernisation without disruption, making the transition low risk and the results immediate," said Seth Khouri, Founder, Kodaa.

The comments highlight a practical concern for property owners considering similar projects: the cost and disruption of replacing existing access systems. By emphasising that the deployment worked with installed infrastructure, the companies are positioning mobile credentials as an upgrade path rather than a complete rebuild.

Workplace shift

The project comes as hybrid work reshapes how tenants interact with office buildings. Access systems that can be updated quickly have become more important as employers adjust attendance patterns, manage visitors differently and seek more flexible control over who can enter specific parts of a property.

Katanas said this has become more visible as tenant expectations change.

"As hybrid work continues to influence tenant expectations, office buildings are under increasing pressure to deliver smarter, more seamless experiences from the moment someone arrives. What 101 Collins has shown is that digital credentials can be deployed at scale without disrupting existing infrastructure," Katanas said.

For HID, the installation provides a reference site in Australia for mobile credentials in a large commercial building. For Kodaa, it offers a local example of a digital access model moving beyond trial use into regular operations across a major office tower with thousands of active users.