InAcademia Helping Student Mobility fulfil their mission 

Student Mobility is an independent organisation committed to making international student travel easier, more affordable, and sustainable. What started with providing public transport cards and bike subscriptions to students relocating to the Netherlands soon evolved. Determined to break down the barriers students face when booking European transport, they set out to make sustainable travel across Europe truly accessible, with the ambition of becoming the go-to booking platform for students and youth. To achieve this, they needed a seamless, secure, and efficient online student verification system - enter InAcademia.

The Challenge

To make cheaper train travel across Europe a reality, Student Mobility needed to address two key challenges.

Firstly, they needed a solution that would allow students to verify their status instantly, enabling them to purchase tickets on the spot without some of the delays that more traditional methods can cause. Offering a streamlined, user-first booking process was front of mind for Student Mobility.

At the same time, they understood the importance of giving train operators confidence that their discounts were being used by the student population they were intended for.

The Solution 

By integrating InAcademia’s real-time student verification service into their booking system, Student Mobility are able to instantly and securely confirm student status online. This allows students to access discounts immediately during the booking process, eliminating delays caused by manual checks. The partnership brings several key advantages that made InAcademia the ideal choice:

Extensive coverage across Europe

InAcademia’s wide-reaching coverage of European educational institutions was a game-changer. With its ability to validate student affiliation at a high percentage of Universities in the Netherlands combined with Student Mobility's plans to expand its cross-border travel solution into key markets like Germany and France, also within the scope of InAcademia's service capabilities, InAcademia represents the ideal single verification partner.

Real-time verification

The technology behind InAcademia allows for real-time validation of academic affiliation without the need to collect or store personal data during the transaction. This meant students could purchase tickets instantly, with no waiting times or delays as they were verified.

A trusted and familiar process

The validation process integrates seamlessly within the Student Mobility platform, redirecting students to their institution for authentication using the trusted identity and access management infrastructure, eduGAIN. This uses up-to-date attributes recorded by the institution, adding an extra layer of credibility, as students interact with a system they trust and are already familiar with, and InAcademia transforms the complex SAML response into a simple OIDC-based confirmation (or otherwise) of the user’s student affiliation.

Automation for efficiency

By automating the verification process, InAcademia eliminates the need for manual data checks, dramatically speeding up validation. This reduces Student Mobility's operational workload, freeing them to focus on scaling their services.

The Results

With InAcademia’s support, Student Mobility has created a platform that reflects its core values: affordability, sustainability, and accessibility. By offering excellent exclusive discounts on cross-border train travel, the platform encourages students to choose eco-friendly options over low-cost flights, benefitting both personal budgets and the planet.

The partnership also strengthens Student Mobility’s efforts to support universities in meeting their sustainability targets. The platform allows institutions to track carbon savings from student travel and report on the impact, providing tangible evidence of progress toward environmental goals. By simplifying travel for students and staff, Student Mobility is advancing its mission and enabling new opportunities for cultural exchange.

Looking ahead, Student Mobility aspires to become Europe’s go-to booking platform for students and youth. The partnership with InAcademia means Student Mobility can verify students quickly and efficiently, ensuring the platform remains both scalable and student-friendly.

“InAcademia has allowed us to connect with students across Europe in a way that’s both seamless and efficient,” says Ivo Kneepkens, founder of Student Mobility. “Their privacy-first platform ensures we can verify student status instantly, giving operators the confidence to offer discounts while empowering students to book affordable, sustainable travel without extra hurdles.”