For decades, facilities managers and building operators have been stuck in the same cycle. You buy into an access control system. It works well enough. Then you need to upgrade, or a tenant needs something different, or you acquire a new property — and you discover you're locked in. The credential doesn't work on a different manufacturer's reader. The software doesn't talk to the other system. The only path forward is rip-and-replace, something few have the budget or appetite for.

This isn't a bug in the system. It's the business model. Proprietary ecosystems create vendor lock-in, which means predictable revenue for manufacturers and recurring headaches for the people managing the building. Mixed-use properties feel this the most: one building running separate security systems for the office floors, the retail tenants, the parking garage and the amenity spaces. No shared credentials. No common management. Just silos that cost money and consume time.

The industry has talked about solving this for years. With the introduction of the first interoperable, non-proprietary standard for mobile access credentials, we've taken a real first step.

The Aliro standard

Aliro is the first interoperable, non-proprietary standard for mobile access credentials, introduced by the Connectivity Standards Alliance in February 2026. It establishes a protocol that lets a single credential work across certified readers from different manufacturers. At the International Security Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas this year, Kastle became the first company to deploy Aliro-certified mobile credentials across Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet simultaneously. 

Here's what Aliro accomplishes:

It solves the credential-to-reader problem. A mobile credential will work on any Aliro-certified reader, regardless of who manufactured it. The logo on your credential no longer needs to match the logo on the reader. That's a meaningful change. It breaks one of the most stubborn chains in the proprietary access control model.

It creates a protocol between credentials and readers. That enables everything that comes next — backend integrations, system connectivity and the coordinated infrastructure that the industry will build based on this standard. It's the starting point that makes multi-vendor environments viable and practical in complex buildings.

Building operations impact

The practical impact of this first step is significant. Credential provisioning gets simpler — no more juggling format compatibility across platforms or waiting on workarounds when a tenant uses a different phone ecosystem. Operational flexibility improves because you can upgrade or change readers without being hostage to a single vendor's roadmap. And for mixed-use properties, a common credential framework across different spaces in the same building becomes within reach.

For managed service providers like Kastle, Aliro also reinforces something we've spent years building: the ability to make multi-tenant, multi-system environments work in complex buildings. The standard makes the credential portable. Our job is to make everything around it — the operations, integrations and day-to-day management ** —** seamless for the people managing the buildings.

Why adoption is important

A standard is only as good as its adoption, and Aliro is no different. Think about wallet payments. Apple Pay launched in 2014. It took over a decade for enough point-of-sale terminals to upgrade before paying with your phone felt normal. The technology was ready long before the infrastructure caught up.

Aliro will follow the same path. The more manufacturers **to** deploy Aliro-certified readers, the more valuable the credential becomes. We're at the beginning of the curve. The standard is proven. It works. The question is how quickly the installed base of compatible hardware grows.

Facilities managers and building operators have a role to play. When you're evaluating access control providers, specifying systems for new projects, or negotiating upgrades, ask whether they support Aliro. The pace of adoption depends in part on how loudly the market asks for it.

The path forward

As buildings compete for tenants and enterprises compete for talent, the ability to offer simple, platform-agnostic mobile access is becoming a baseline expectation. Interoperability isn't a feature — it's an operating requirement. Facilities managers who push their providers toward standards like Aliro will spend less time managing incompatible systems and more time on what matters: security, occupant experience and operational efficiency.

We're at the beginning of this shift. Aliro doesn't solve everything. But it proves that open, interoperable mobile access is possible, practical and secure. The industry built the standard. Now it's on all of us — manufacturers, integrators, managed service providers, and the building professionals who specify and buy these systems — to make it the norm.