The hospitality industry is witnessing a significant shift as many hotel chains move to replace traditional plastic room key cards with digital options like Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. The pandemic accelerated touchless technology trends, and growing cybersecurity concerns around hotel key systems have further spurred this transition. Earlier this year, a vulnerability was discovered in plastic hotel keys, potentially compromising up to three million keys, prompting hotels to rethink their security strategies.
Major U.S. hotel chains have embraced digital keys for years, and now Google Wallet and Apple Wallet are enabling guests to store room keys on their smartphones, allowing access with a simple tap on a door reader. For example, Hilton Hotels offers a digital key feature through its Honors app, which allows guests to check in and access their rooms via their smartphones.
Despite the convenience of digital keys, adoption has been slow. According to J.D. Power, only 14% of branded hotel guests used digital keys during their stay. Even among guests who had downloaded the hotel’s app, 70% still preferred the plastic key card. Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power, notes that while many hotels are gradually adopting digital locks, some guests still prefer the familiarity of physical key cards.
Security experts caution that digital keys are not without risks. Lee Clark, from the Retail and Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RH-ISAC), points out that keyless systems can introduce new security challenges. However, digital keys do offer the advantage of quick security updates, unlike plastic cards, which cannot be easily patched once vulnerabilities are identified.
Despite the shift toward digital, Mehmet Erdem, a professor at the University of Las Vegas, warns that no system is foolproof. He notes that while digital keys offer convenience, plastic key cards, particularly those using RFID technology, remain versatile and secure. Ultimately, as Erdem suggests, hotels may continue to offer both options to cater to different guest preferences.
