San Francisco, Jul 21 (IANS): Samsung Electronics America has launched student IDs on Samsung Wallet at 68 colleges, universities and higher education institutions across the nation.

The update will add a convenient way to use student IDs on a Galaxy smartphone, the company said in a blogpost on Thursday.

The tech giant is working closely with partners to expand the offering to even more institutions.

"We're always looking to innovate and improve the Galaxy experience for every kind of user," said Jude Buckley, executive vice president of Mobile experience Business at Samsung Electronics America.

"Technology plays a big part in today's college experience, and with student ID for Samsung Wallet, we created a way for students to use the technology they already have on hand to simplify their busy lives," Buckley added.

Samsung Wallet, which launched last year, combines the mobile payment experience of Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass into a more comprehensive digital wallet.

After adding their school ID to the Wallet, students will be able to use their device to unlock doors at places like dorm rooms and academic buildings.

At select participating higher education institutions, students can also use their devices around campus for near field communication (NFC)-based payments at on-campus stores, vending machines and more.

Also, Fast Mode and Power Reserve on Samsung Wallet enable enhanced convenience for student life.

With Fast Mode, students can tap their phone without needing to unlock it, while Power Reserve lets students tap to use their ID even when their phone is switched off due to low battery.

"Fast Mode and Power Reserve are made possible because Student ID information stored on Samsung Wallet is kept in an isolated environment on the device itself -- known as the embedded Secure Element -- which offers one of the highest levels of hardware security in mobile category with a CC EAL6+ rating to help protect against digital and physical hacking," the company explained.