The short version: the intelligence lives in the credential, not in the building. This page is where the long version goes.
The technology came out of Nokia Research Center and Finland's access control industry, and it's patented. Keys are encrypted on the phone, the lock checks them itself, and every opening is logged. The service is GDPR compliant and audited regularly.
Access is granted by connecting people to doors. Either side can be an individual or a group, which is what keeps it simple at ten people and still simple at ten thousand.
And most of what it needs around it. Row by row, what a conventional installation has to provide and what the platform does instead.
| Conventional wired access control | Bitwards Mobile Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Cabling to each door | Power and data cabling to a central panel | None required |
| Network at the door | Continuous connection needed | Not needed — works offline |
| Central hardware | Controllers, hubs, servers | Cloud service, included |
| A mechanical door with no electricity | Power and cabling run to it, and a network hub to reach it | No hub and no power — a battery lock and a phone |
| Retrofitting old doors | Disruptive and expensive | Adapter or smart lock, no builder |
| A key or card goes missing | Re-keying the cylinder, or a card reissued and the old one chased | The right is withdrawn — nothing to re-key or collect |
| Credential logistics | Cards printed, posted, collected back | Sent to the phone in seconds |
| Changing someone's access | A visit to the door, or to the panel | Granted, changed and revoked from anywhere |
| Adding a property | Often a second, separate system | Another location in the same account |
Fewer moving parts at the door means roughly half the installation cost of a conventional card system — and an installation measured in days, not weeks. From the Mobile Access solution brochure, version 8/2026.
A credential is created in the cloud, held on a phone, carried by an app and checked by the lock. Each step is protected on its own terms, so no single one has to be trusted with the whole system.
A full SaaS access control dashboard, one account per customer, covering every site you own from a single screen. Access rights can start and end at a given time, follow a weekly schedule, or stay open ended, and each access point can be managed on its own or in groups. Adding a location takes minutes; sites are mapped geographically so the right keys surface automatically in the app.
The platform is token-based: a credential is a cryptographically protected data object issued to the phone, not a question asked of a server at the door. Bitwards' patented SecureCode two-way tokens carry permissions and lock parameters outbound, and bring lock status and maintenance data back on the return leg.
One app and one sign-in holds mobile keys and mobile IDs from every building owner a person deals with, so a resident, a student and an employee are the same app. Keys are location aware — the app offers the ones for where you are standing, and every access point is on a map. Opening a lock needs no network connection, so it works in cellars, lifts and anywhere else with no signal.
The Bitwards library runs in the lock or reader firmware itself. It decrypts the token, makes the access decision on the spot, applies whatever configuration the token carried, and returns maintenance data — logs, battery level — the next time a phone passes. That is why the hardware needs no cable, no gateway and no network of its own.
The four parts above and the security summary are in place. Still to be written:
Whether you manage buildings, install access for a living, or make hardware that should be smarter — we'll point you to the right answer, or to the right partner near you.