Campus Nation Network and Loop have entered into a strategic alliance to market mobile wallets to university campus communities in North America. Together the companies will create the Campus Loop product line, a joint offering for the university and college market that will focus on serving students and faculty as well as the merchants around these communities, the companies said in a news release.

LoopWallet is a mobile wallet app that lets consumers load credit, debit, gift, loyalty, ID and membership cards into a secure memory accessed by their smartphone. Mag stripe card data is stored into a secure Loop chip inside a Loop Fob or Loop Charge Case accessory. The chip could eventually be embedded into phones, the company said.

Through its Loop Magnetic Transmission technology, the company said, card data can be transmitted to existing POS terminals without any hardware or software change.

Campus Nation Network is developing a campus ecosystem that will connect the Campus Loop to POS systems at merchant locations within five miles of each college campus, the release said. CNN also owns a digital signage network that serves more than 1,150 college campuses and recently acquired the assets of Akoo College Network, which operated digital signage in cafeterias and student unions.

"Campus Nation Network has a unique and prominent position on university and college campuses," LOOP CEO Will Graylin said in the release. "We share a vision to have smartphones act as a complete student wallet (that) will host transaction payment cards and student IDs, thus eliminating the need to carry traditional wallets."

"LoopWallet fully complements CNN's strategy to fully serve the university and college markets with smartphone transaction capabilities, coupons and special offers, college-specific information and other services," CNN President Thomas Kuehle said in the release.

Learn more about mobile/digital wallets.