SwiftConnect has announced the acquisition of HID’s Workforce Business Unit, including HID SAFE, a platform designed to streamline identity lifecycle management in physical environments.
This strategic move aims to tackle a common challenge faced by large organisations: the need for seamless, automatic updates to physical access permissions whenever a person joins, leaves, or changes roles within a company. Traditionally, this process has been disjointed and carried out manually, with separate teams handling digital and physical access independently.
Physical access governance
The acquisition allows SwiftConnect to integrate HID SAFE into its AccessCloud platform, which facilitates connections between identity providers, mobile credentials, and access control systems across various premises. HID SAFE serves as the governance layer, automating functions such as access requests, approvals, policy enforcement, and revocation in response to alterations within HR, IT, or security systems. This integrated platform aims to manage the full lifecycle of physical access governance, ensuring that all aspects of identity and permission changes are handled seamlessly.
"Access should be invisible for users. They are easily credentialed, they walk in, and nothing gets in their way. The addition of HID SAFE enables governance that makes this possible. The policies, approvals, and compliance requirements will now all live in the same platform as the experience," said Matt Kopel and Chip Kruger, Co-CEOs of SwiftConnect. "Every person will get exactly the access they are entitled to, and just tapping to access buildings, doors, floors, and resources will be effortless."
Security-driven organisations
The acquisition follows HID’s previous involvement in SwiftConnect's Series B funding
Björn Lidefelt, EVP and Head of HID, commented, "HID SAFE has earned the trust of the world's most security-driven organisations for more than two decades. Great technology deserves the space to reach its full potential, and SwiftConnect is the right partner to take it there."
For current SwiftConnect customers, the acquisition enhances their platform with advanced physical access governance features, fully integrated into AccessCloud. Meanwhile, existing HID SAFE customers will now benefit from SwiftConnect’s cloud-based access infrastructure that bridges current physical access systems with advanced cloud, identity, and mobile technologies.
Connected access network
Shane Butler, EVP of Identity at SwiftConnect, has joined the company to spearhead the SAFE business and drive advancements in physical access governance. "This acquisition accelerates the modernisation of SAFE by delivering it via our connected access network so organisations can manage physical and digital access through the same governance, risk, and compliance lens. This is the moment when these two worlds will finally speak the same language, and being a part of this industry transformation is precisely why I joined SwiftConnect," Butler stated.
The acquisition follows HID’s previous involvement in SwiftConnect's Series B funding, with HID maintaining a minority, non-controlling interest in the company post-transaction. SwiftConnect remains an independent firm, led by its current executive team.
SwiftConnect, provider of the connected access network for places and spaces, announces the acquisition of HID’s Workforce Business Unit, including HID SAFE, the platform for automating identity lifecycle management in the physical world.
The combination addresses a problem every large organisation faces. When someone joins a company, changes roles, or leaves, their physical access permissions should update automatically, everywhere, in real time. In most organisations today, that process is manual, fragmented, and unreliable because IT manages digital access while a separate team manages physical access, and the two systems rarely communicate. The result is friction, audit exposure, and access that persists long after it should have been revoked.
Physical access governance
SwiftConnect's AccessCloud platform connects identity providers, mobile credentials, and access control systems across buildings, campuses, and portfolios. HID SAFE manages the governance layer, automating access requests, approvals, policy enforcement, and revocation based on changes in HR, IT, and security systems. Together, they deliver a single platform for physical access governance that covers the full arc: who someone is, what they are authorised to access, how they access it, and what happens when their role changes.
"Access should be invisible for users. They are easily credentialed, they walk in, and nothing gets in their way. The addition of HID SAFE enables governance that makes this possible. The policies, approvals, and compliance requirements will now all live in the same platform as the experience,” said Matt Kopel and Chip Kruger, Co-CEOs of SwiftConnect. “Every person will get exactly the access they are entitled to, and just tapping to access buildings, doors, floors, and resources will be effortless.”
Security-driven organisations
“HID SAFE has earned the trust of the world’s most security-driven organisations for more than two decades. Great technology deserves the space to reach its full potential, and SwiftConnect is the right partner to take it there,” said Björn Lidefelt, EVP and Head of HID.
For existing SwiftConnect customers, the acquisition delivers enterprise-grade physical access governance capabilities natively integrated with AccessCloud. For existing HID SAFE customers, their governance platform is now backed by SwiftConnect’s cloud-first, connected access infrastructure that networks existing physical access systems with cloud, identity, and mobile technologies.
Connected access network
Shane Butler, EVP of Identity at SwiftConnect, has recently joined the company to lead the SAFE business and drive the evolution in physical access governance. "This acquisition accelerates the modernisation of SAFE by delivering it via our connected access network so organisations can manage physical and digital access through the same governance, risk, and compliance lens. This is the moment when these two worlds will finally speak the same language, and being a part of this industry transformation is precisely why I joined SwiftConnect,” Butler said.
The transaction builds on HID’s prior participation in SwiftConnect’s Series B funding round. HID will hold a minority, non-controlling interest in SwiftConnect following close. SwiftConnect is an independent company, controlled and managed by its existing leadership team.
