EVO, a Nordic operator running 132 clubs across Norway and the DACH region, has replaced physical key-fobs with membership passes in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. It is the first major Nordic fitness chain to do so. The membership card now lives on the member's phone, and it opens the door. Stell provides the pass platform behind the launch, so this is our view from the inside of what the project involved.
Access has to work every time
EVO runs a digital-first model. Clubs are open from early morning to midnight, with no reception desk, so nobody is there to let in a member who forgot their fob. The credential has to work every time, for everyone, unattended.
The phone is the one thing members always bring to the gym. A membership pass in the wallet cannot be forgotten in another jacket, and members present it the same way they already present their phone to pay.
It is also more secure than the fob it replaces. A fob can be lost, lent out, or copied. A wallet pass is stored on the member's phone and read over an encrypted NFC protocol (Apple VAS on iPhone, Google Smart Tap on Android), so only a reader with the matching key can read it. EVO's passes also use account binding, which ties each pass to the member's own account so it cannot be shared.
From pocket to lock
A wallet pass on its own does not open anything. The chain from pocket to lock has three parts:
- The pass carries an encrypted NFC payload, issued and kept up to date by the pass platform.
- The reader is new. EVO invested in VTAP100 readers from Dot Origin at every entrance, a key part of the project. They read wallet passes from both iPhone and Android.
- The access system stays. The readers speak OSDP, the standard access-control protocol, into EVO's existing door controllers, which treat a pass read like any other credential.
The readers were the new investment, and everything behind them was reused, which kept project costs down. Installation ran club by club, and once every entrance had a new reader, EVO went live for all members at the same time. Fobs kept working alongside the passes, so around 140,000 members were in scope with no hard cutover.
What the pass platform does
Issuing 140,000 passes is a one-time job. Keeping them correct as memberships start, change, freeze, and end is the ongoing work, and that is Stell's role.
A new member gets their pass in the wallet in one tap, with no fob to hand over or post. When a membership changes or ends, the pass and the access follow automatically. There are no active fobs left behind by lapsed members.
The pass is also more than a key. It shows the member's details, updates automatically when they change, and can put a message on the lock screen when the club has something to say.
Behind the scenes, the encrypted tap works because the passes and the readers share the right keys. Stell manages this for both Apple VAS and Google Smart Tap. Members do not see any of this. They hold up their phone and the door opens.
The first six weeks
Six weeks after launch, about 40% of all door taps are made with a phone, and the share keeps climbing as existing members move over from their fobs. Among new members, between 92% and 98% choose mobile access at sign-up. That share has held stable since launch.
The rollout also ran without significant problems. Members understood how to add the pass and how to use it at the door, unattended, with no reception desk to help.
What other operators can take from it
- The phone can be the credential today. Apple VAS and Google Smart Tap are certified technology in production today, and they work unattended at a door.
- Invest in the reader, reuse the rest. The new readers were the key investment. Because they speak a standard protocol, the existing controllers, locks and membership systems all stayed.
- Old and new can run in tandem. Install readers club by club, go live when everything is ready, and let fobs and passes work side by side for as long as members need them. Nobody is locked out on launch day.