Bitwards solutions: Mobile Access, Mobile ID and Technology Licences

Success story · Parking

Two hundred spaces, and nobody winds down a window

A new two-storey garage under a condominium in Matinkylä, Espoo — opened from the phone as the car rolls up to the gate, with no key, no fob and no reason to stop.

The condominium opened in August 2021 with a two-storey garage of 200 parking spaces, planned from the start to be easy to get into. The building company bought four electric locks from Arvolukko and put them on the Bitwards platform. Users open the doors from the app, or with a PIN on the panel beside them. Keys and remote controls are not part of the arrangement.

A smooth user experience

Mauri Mononen and Pirjo Suhonen have two spaces in Mahtinokka. He drives daily; she leaves the car for weeks and uses it a few times a month. Both report the same thing: it simply works, and neither of them has to step out of the car.

“I have used Bitwards for three weeks. The use of the app is easy, and I don't need codes or keys anymore. I always have my phone on me, so the access is smooth now.”

Mauri MononenResident, Mahtinokka

Access rights granted. Fast.

Sannamari Isosomppi works in the maintenance unit and is one of the administrators of the system. She creates the groups, grants the rights and supports the users.

“I created a user group to which I have added the end-users of the garage. The online service is straightforward to learn and user-friendly.”

Sannamari IsosomppiMaintenance unit, Mahtinokka

Residents rent their space on a monthly contract, which is where the turnover comes in — and where handing over physical keys used to cost everyone an appointment.

“Residents do not need to come and pick up or leave their keys. They just have to download the Bitwards mobile app, and register as users; then I provide them with the access rights online. If the contract comes to an end, I just have to revoke the access rights of the resident from the group.”

Sannamari IsosomppiMaintenance unit, Mahtinokka

What the garage got out of it

• One app for access — no keys, no remote controls.
• No internet connection needed at the door.
• Mechanical and electric locks alike can be brought onto the platform.
• Access rights administered in real time from the cloud service.
• Competitive to install, with no wiring.
• Security tested.

Originally published by Bitwards, 21 February 2022.

Case study · Coworking

CatMarina: book, pay, walk in

Twenty-two meeting rooms in a new office and coworking space in Lahti — and a plan, at first, to hand out keys for all of them.

CatMarina started in the furniture business in the 1970s and has become a significant property player since: an indoor sports arena in Hollola, floating villas and saunas, and now an office and coworking space. Its founder and CEO Heimo Hälikkä has always been curious about new technology, and the brief for the new space was a safe, user-friendly experience for everyone in it — which meant access had to be controlled and manageable.

Twenty-two rooms, and the key drawer that never happened

The first thought was traditional keys. Then somebody counted the rooms.

“We should have employed someone full time just for handling access authorizations, handing out keys and keeping a log book to track users or chase forgetful customers, not to mention having to order expensive service to replace all the locks because of lost keys. We started to look for alternatives.”

Jenni MattilaSales, CatMarina

Security first

Mobile keys turned out to be the safer option as well as the easier one. The doors to the building stay closed; only authorised people open them; once inside, people move freely between the rooms they have rights to.

“Security is essential for us. Bitwards Mobile Access ticked all the boxes concerning security and safety, as it allows controlling the flow of who is accessing the premises at all times, making it a safe environment for our customers to work in because we know that keys cannot end up in the wrong hands. We can deny access if deemed necessary.”

Jenni MattilaSales, CatMarina

Why Bitwards, and why Asio

“We chose Bitwards because Bitwards could deliver fast and accommodate our needs. They also had an integration with Asio, which provided the online booking system that our customers now use to reserve meeting rooms. Customers, staff, cleaning service crews, and occasional visitors could immediately access the premises by downloading the app.”

Jenni MattilaSales, CatMarina

There was one small problem early on, not of Bitwards' making. It was found and fixed quickly, which Mattila counted as the more useful proof: “It's comforting to know that if bigger things arise in the future, we can rely on prompt, responsive and competent customer service, which is so rare nowadays.”

Book, pay, access

• The customer books a room or a space, for the time they want, in the Asio web service.
• They pay for the booking through an online payment service such as Paytrail.
• Asio authorises the Bitwards Mobile Access service to issue the rights.
• Bitwards sends the rights to the mobile application.
• The customer opens the booked space at the booked time.

Asio is a Finnish IT company specialising in booking management for schools, cities and municipalities, restaurants, business parks, parking halls and lodging — spaces, rooms, classrooms, parking spaces, devices, times and events. Because the API integration between Asio and Bitwards already exists, a deployment like CatMarina's is a matter of configuration rather than construction.

Who would Jenni Mattila recommend it to?

“I recommend implementing Bitwards Mobile Access in any office with more than one employee. It is unquestionably worth the initial investment. For example, we will never have to go through any costly key replacement operation. The system works; employees don't have to make an appointment to meet customers to hand out keys or to remind people to return them. I would also recommend it to Airbnb owners: customers book and pay online and are granted access to their app in a few minutes.”

Jenni MattilaSales, CatMarina

CatMarina is now considering the same arrangement for bookings of its floating villas, and for storage rooms.

Text: Katariina Benedetti. Graphics: Bitwards / Susanna Määttä. Originally published by Bitwards, 9 February 2023.

Case study · Property owner

Ylva: one portfolio, every kind of tenant, one key

Residents, office tenants, gym members, bands, guests and a construction crew — all in the same buildings, and until recently all on different access control systems, or none at all.

Ylva is owned by the Helsinki Student Union. Its purpose is to enable a vibrant student life, and it has been part of Helsinki's cityscape for over 150 years. It owns some of the city's most recognisable buildings: the Old and New Student House, and Domus Academica, the housing complex where generations of students have lived.

Challenge one: the common areas

Domus Academica is three distinct housing properties, plus commercial space, conference rooms, a laundry, shared areas and a garage — with Aalto University Executive Education as a tenant. A complex that heterogeneous is exactly where traditional access control becomes costly and awkward, and where PIN codes quietly stop working.

“We share the basement, sauna and laundry room. We used to have a PIN-code system, but the readers have been removed due to the codes ending up in wrong hands.”

Markus ThoméProperty manager, Ylva

“Crossing from one building to the other is challenging, as there are different access control systems or no access control system at all. The intricacy of the systems affects people's everyday life and overloads the administration, as we need to manage access control in many different systems simultaneously, which is costly and slow.”

Markus ThoméProperty manager, Ylva

Challenge two: the tenants

Outside tenants are a user group of their own — a gym with 3,000 customers and its trainers, and band rehearsal rooms that want a booking system worth the name.

“The gym has 3000 customers plus the trainers. The band rehearsal spaces would like to have an efficient booking system. The access control currently in use is obsolete and confusing. We are in charge of it, but we'd like the gym and the rehearsal space to manage access independently.”

Markus ThoméProperty manager, Ylva

What Ylva wants next

The ambition is a tenant who never carries a key at all: one login that opens the laundry, books a sauna shift, an office or a party venue, reports a maintenance need, shows the house rules, or reserves a turn at the shared car.

Laundry, common areas, garage, gym — done

Mobile access is already running in the common areas, and the administrative load has fallen with it.

“The app is easy to use, and the admin work has reduced dramatically. Misuse has diminished, and tenants have been mostly very pleased. The common areas in the guest house have a mobile key. It's so convenient not to have to hand out keys, and that access rights go straight to users' phones and are valid for the agreed time.”

Markus ThoméProperty manager, Ylva

The gym's trainers have started using the mobile key too, and would like to run their own access in future.

“One clear example of how much easier daily life has become is that we have one-month-long renovation works starting soon, and with the app, I was able to assign access rights to the crew, for example, to the garage for the duration of the project. How incredibly easy is that? It is a relief to know that keys will not be forgotten somewhere, in the pockets of the construction crew members or on their desks. We don't have that problem anymore.”

Markus ThoméProperty manager, Ylva

Next

NFC on Android makes the phone behave like a keycard — show it to the reader and the door opens — and that is due to be tested in the Ylva property. Beyond it lie the apartment doors themselves, which would take the friction out of moving in: access granted when the lease is signed and withdrawn when it ends, rather than a tenant racing the lobby desk to arrive before four o'clock.

Who would Markus Thomé recommend it to?

• New builds — construction companies should consider access control based on mobile technology from the start.
• Any property renewing its locks or its obsolete access system, or considering mobile access.
• Any property with a problem of unauthorised people getting in.

Text and editing: Bitwards / Katja Sonninen. Translation: Bitwards / Katariina Benedetti. Originally published by Bitwards, 25 May 2023.

Success story · Coworking

A former bank in Porvoo, opened by phone

CoSpace Finland rents workspace by the hour. That only works if getting in is as easy as booking — so the old access control system went, and the phone became the key.

CoSpace Finland Oy offers coworking space to companies and to individuals: desks, workspaces, meeting rooms, seminar rooms — and a sauna. Customers get high-speed internet, printing, copying and scanning. Space can be booked for as little as two hours.

That last detail is the whole problem. When customers arrive and leave all day, for stays measured in hours, access control has to be effortless to run and impossible to get wrong. CoSpace had been looking for a system that could keep up, and not finding one.

“We rent the selected space for a minimum of two hours, and because of customers coming and going, access control has to be smooth and easy to manage.”

Petter LarsenCEO, CoSpace Finland

From a conference conversation to a live building

Petter Larsen met Bitwards CEO Eljas Saastamoinen at an international conference and heard about the platform there. CoSpace adopted it in 2018, becoming one of Bitwards' first customers — and Mobile Access replaced the legacy access control system in the building outright.

“The Bitwards solution suits our needs perfectly. The technology is safe, reliable, flexible and user-friendly. There is no need to physically meet a customer, as it is possible to allow access remotely. The user-friendliness is of particular importance to us because many of our customers occasionally need to use the facilities only for a short time.”

Petter LarsenCEO, CoSpace Finland

And then the building across the street

The second test of an access system is what happens when you add a building. CoSpace opened a HUB — a meeting and teamwork space — directly opposite, and put it on the same platform, with lockers under consideration after that.

“Another big advantage of this system is that it is scalable. We have already implemented the smart key platform in a building that we opened just opposite CoSpace.”

Petter LarsenCEO, CoSpace Finland

Today the Finnish high-tech company Lamor Plc works from the same premises — a tenant of a different size and kind, on the access control that a two-hour meeting-room booking already proved.

Quotations from “Bitwards converts smartphones into keys” by Tuomas Lehtonen, published in Ilta-Sanomat on 13 March 2021; English translation by Katariina Benedetti.

Success story · University

A mobile phone as the key to the Otaniemi campus

Aalto University and its property company ACRE are moving a campus of more than 2,000 access-controlled doors from plastic cards to mobile IDs — a piece at a time, at the pace the campus itself can take.

Otaniemi is not a building, it is a small town: around 15,000 students and 4,000 staff, spread across a campus with more than two thousand access-controlled doors. Once mobile IDs are the norm, the number of credential holders will approach twenty thousand.

The aim Aalto set was “invisible access control” — a campus where getting through the right door takes no thought at all, while the doors meant to stay closed stay closed. The transition away from physical cards has been deliberately gradual, following the readiness of the people who use the campus rather than a switch-off date.

“Access control is a central element of the campus experience and security. Every member of the Aalto community should be able to move as effortlessly as possible, while ensuring that doors meant to remain closed do stay closed. Today, many people already have a smartphone with a calendar, wallet and all essential applications — so why not also a key for moving around campus.”

Ville JokelaManaging Director, Aalto University Properties Ltd (ACRE)

Seven years of joint development

The mobile ID pilot began in 2019, in the university's coworking facilities across five campus buildings. That was the point of it: to test the system against a genuinely broad user base and adapt it to a campus environment, rather than to a demonstration. The brief was to simplify the access-control processes, improve security, and bring the cost down. The joint development work between the university, ACRE and Bitwards is still running.

Mobile ID also changes what a change costs. Rights can be updated and modified without anyone reissuing a card, and the same credential can be extended beyond doors — to storage lockers, or to equipment.

Why the architecture matters at this size

The technology behind the mobile ID solution has its origins in Nokia's former research centre, which itself worked closely with Aalto over the years.

“Security is at the core of Bitwards' operations. The system is based on distributed intelligence, allowing locks to evaluate the validity of encrypted mobile identifiers. The Bitwards solution offers almost unlimited scalability for different applications and use cases.”

Eljas SaastamoinenCEO, Bitwards

That distribution is what makes a campus of this size practical. The lock decides, on its own, whether a credential is valid — so the door does not depend on a cable, a controller, or a live connection to a server to do its job.

Where it stands

Aalto now recommends the mobile credential to every member of the community, students and staff alike. The count passed ten thousand users in autumn 2025 and reached sixteen thousand a year later. Aalto has had positive feedback and development ideas in roughly equal measure, and reviews the awkward cases one at a time — which is what a seven-year transition on a live campus actually looks like.

Read Aalto’s own article →

Facts and quotations from “Mobile phone as the key to campus”, published by Aalto University on 6 October 2025.

Success story · University

Enriching the educational experience of the students of the University of Helsinki

The craft science and education department of the faculty of educational sciences opened its new premises in 2021. Bitwards provides easy and secure access throughout.

The department welcomes students who need to work on their projects at varying hours. Staying in the lab for a short while, or spending hours there to finish a project on time, can be critical — and needs access that is both easy and secure. These students will one day graduate to become class teachers in primary and secondary schools in Finland, where technical work is part of the curriculum.

It was clear that granting access to hundreds of students every year by handing out physical keys was impossible. The department occupies three floors and is served by a lift. There are several sizeable machines that students learn to operate and need to reach. The question was how to ensure that only authorised people could enter the premises and use the machines safely and independently.

Making access easy and secure

Erno Vähänen, the senior laboratory technician, cares for the machines, works as a supervisor, and administers the Bitwards platform, assigning access rights to the students.

“From the first year, students get access rights to the doors so they can freely get acquainted with the spaces. When their study progresses, they have to pass theory and practice tests to operate the machines. These tests are strict, because many of the metal and woodwork machines can be dangerous if not operated appropriately. Once the students pass, they get access rights to the machines of the department. Thanks to Bitwards, they get to practise on their own.”

Erno VähänenSenior laboratory technician

Security above all

In case of need, he or another supervisor is always there. The Bitwards solution is aimed specifically at high-risk machines, such as the planer, the band saw and the circular saw.

“The best thing for me is that I can feel safe when the students are working with the machines. I know that only authorised people can access them, and that those people know what they are doing. Bitwards gives me a sense of security.”

Erno VähänenSenior laboratory technician

Senior lecturer Antti Hilmola finds the platform straightforward: “I particularly enjoy the fact that we can grant easy and secure access rights to anyone. And that we can decide on the timeframe. I think this system could be particularly suitable for vocational schools or universities of applied sciences.”

Students and modern access control

During a visit to the campus we interviewed a few students, touring the premises by opening doors with the Bitwards app.

“The biggest plus is that we can move freely on the campus; once the app is on our phone, we do not require any keys to open doors or cards for the lift,” says Inka Hissa, a first-year student.

We followed two students, Melissa Lynch and Kreetta Uusitalo, to the material storage room in the basement, taking the lift and opening the doors with the app. There is no internet reception down there. Bluetooth lets the app work all the same — even underground.

“The connection might be a bit slower sometimes underground, but it always works and we think it’s great,” they say. The app has charmed students who, at first, wondered how it was possible to open doors and unlock machines with a touch on a phone screen.

Text: Katariina Benedetti. Originally published by Bitwards, 19 December 2022.