GET Mobile: ID Card Management

Review by eFreeware

If your student ID lives in your wallet and your dining dollars live on a card you keep misplacing, GET Mobile is the app most likely to replace both. It is built for people at universities and hospitals that already run the GET platform from CBORD, and it puts the card itself on the phone. The idea is simple: one app for the things a plastic ID used to do.

The app has been on Google Play since November 2014 and carries a 4.3 average from 4,536 ratings, with more than 500,000 installs. That kind of history suggests a tool that has settled into a routine role rather than a novelty. What appeals to me here is the practicality: no ads, no in-app purchases, and a job that is narrow but clearly defined.

Who this actually fits

The deciding factor is not the app but the campus. GET Mobile only works where your university or hospital offers the GET platform, so the first question is whether your institution is on the list. If it is not, no amount of installing will help, and the developer's advice is to contact your local ID card services office.

For students, the fit is straightforward. If you already tap a card to get into a residence hall, buy a snack from a vending machine, or pay for laundry, the app is meant to do the same work from a phone. For hospital staff, the appeal is a badge on the phone plus the ability to manage funds, view purchases, and handle a lost or stolen card without a trip to an office.

It is less about a broad audience and more about a specific one. If you are not affiliated with a participating campus or hospital, there is nothing here for you to use. If you are, the app is designed to slot into routines you already have.

Money, meals and daily spending

The student side of GET covers the ordinary business of campus life. You can manage funds, make purchases, order food, and book dining reservations. There is also a rewards element, which the developer presents as a way to earn something back from the spending you were doing anyway.

For healthcare users, the list is slightly different. The app supports payroll deduction, fund management, viewing and making purchases, and placing online food orders. Reporting a lost or stolen ID card is handled inside the app as well, which is the sort of task that used to mean finding the right office during business hours.

What I like about this grouping is that it treats the ID as a wallet rather than just a key. Ordering ahead, checking a balance, and settling a meal are the things people actually do repeatedly.

Doors, vending machines and laundry

The developer says you can use it to open doors, purchase from vending machines, and pay for laundry, which covers the three places a campus card most often gets swiped. The pitch is that the phone works the way the plastic card does, without the card.

That is the part I would expect to matter most day to day. A phone is already in your hand when you walk up to a dorm entrance or a washer, so removing the extra reach for a wallet is a small but real convenience. It also means one less thing to replace when a card goes missing.

The catch is that access depends on the hardware being in place at your campus. The app is the credential, not the reader, so this feature is only as useful as the doors and machines your institution has equipped.

Getting set up and what it costs

Getting started takes three steps: install, pick your campus or organization, then sign up. From there you manage your campus ID on the phone. If your campus does not appear, the developer directs you to your local ID card services office rather than offering a workaround.

On cost, the picture is simple. The app is free, it contains no ads, and it offers no in-app purchases. There is no premium tier to weigh and nothing to unlock by paying. Any money involved is the money you already spend on campus, not a fee for the app itself.

The most recent update points at maintenance rather than new features. It improves screen reader and keyboard accessibility across navigation, messaging, informational text, and screen elements such as fields, menus, buttons, and links. It also adds a reauthentication status screen showing the log-in steps, and improves the pre-login process, start-up performance, and the Settings screen, alongside general bug fixes.

When a dedicated app makes more sense

There is a reasonable alternative to consider: keep using the plastic card and handle campus business through a web portal or a dedicated food-ordering service. That route avoids depending on a phone for access, which matters if you would rather not have your entry credential tied to a battery.

The trade-off runs the other way too. A card cannot show you a balance, place an order, or let you report it missing from wherever you happen to be. GET bundles those tasks into one place, and for people who are on campus constantly, that consolidation is the point.

My read is that the app is worth installing if your institution supports it and you are tired of juggling a card, a dining account, and a separate ordering app. If your campus is not on the platform, none of this applies, and the card in your wallet remains the practical answer.

A focused tool for participating campuses

GET Mobile does one job and does it for a defined group of people. If your university or hospital runs the GET platform, it replaces a plastic ID with your phone for access, purchases, dining, and fund management, at no cost and without ads or purchases. That is a clean proposition.

The 4.3 average across 4,536 ratings suggests it generally lands well with the people who can use it. The recent accessibility and performance work is a good sign that the app is still being tended to rather than left alone.

I would recommend it to students and hospital staff whose campus is listed, particularly anyone who misplaces cards or wants ordering and balances in one place. Everyone else can safely ignore it, because the app has nothing to offer outside a participating institution.

What's new in version 5.0.51

• Improved overall screen reader and keyboard accessibility performance to enhance navigation, messaging, informational text, and screen elements (fields, menus, buttons, and links). • Added reauthentication status screen to show log-in steps and improve user experience. • Improved pre-login process. • Improved start-up performance. • Improved Settings screen performance. • Implemented general bug fixes.