Membership and student card

Student card

Your student card is the official proof of your student status. After you have paid the student union’s membership fee, you can order a plastic and/or digital card. The validity of a plastic student card is proven by a yearly tag.

For what do I need a student card?

A student card entitles you to numerous national and local student benefits. It is also a convenient way to verify your student status when visiting student restaurants or UniSport, for example.

If you begin your studies in the autumn, the digital student card will become active on 1 Aug. From 1 Aug onwards, you can pick up a year tag for the plastic card during opening hours to validate the card.

You can order the plastic student card from Frank. The digital student card can be ordered from Frank or Kide.app. 

What is the difference between plastic and digital cards?

Both plastic and digital cards are equally valid proof of your student status. You can choose either one or order both.

Plastic card:

  • Costs a fee
  • Longer delivery time
  • The year tag must be renewed each academic year
  • Functions until the end of the validity of the year tag (end of September or January), even if you graduate in the middle of the spring/autumn term
  • Always functional, even if your mobile phone does not work
  • More easily accepted in countries where the digital card is not commonly used

Digital card:

  • Free of charge
  • Occasional dysfunctions possible in the app
  • If your name or study field at Aalto changes, your information will be automatically updated after you inform Aalto student services about the changes
  • The digital student card will cease to function approximately one month after your graduation 

Plastic student card

You can order the plastic student card here. Frank delivers the plastic student card by mail. The price of the card is €25, including postage. 

Once you have received the plastic student card, you can pick up the year tag for your student card that shows the card’s validity. You can pick up the year tag for free from AYY services office during opening hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 12 noon – 3 pm (check for exceptional opening hours here).

For the academic year 2024-2025, year tags are available from AYY services office from 1 Aug 2024 onwards during opening hours. The year tag indicates 9/2025, which means your card is valid until September 2025.

If you have enrolled for attendance only for the autumn term, you will receive a year tag for your plastic student card that is valid until January 2025.
 

When do you get a year tag and for which card?

It takes 1–5 days for your membership to be updated in our system. Therefore, please wait a couple of days after paying the membership fee before coming to pick up the year tag. We cannot give you the year tag if your student status is not yet visible in our system. 

You can only collect the year tag from the student union that issued your student card. AYY’s Services Office therefore only gives the year tag for Aalto University student card to AYY members who have paid the membership fee. Student cards issued by the former Student Union of the Helsinki School of Economics (KY), Student Union of the University of Art and Design (TOKYO) and Student Union of the Helsinki University of Technology (TKY) are also regarded as Aalto student cards.

If, for example, you have study rights at both the University of Helsinki and Aalto, and your plastic student card refers to the University of Helsinki, you must pick up the year tag from HYY. If you are enrolled for attendance at Aalto, you must get a new plastic student card to receive a year tag from AYY or start using a digital student card.

Collecting a year tag from AYY for student cards from other higher education institutions or for Aalto student card from other student unions 

If you reside in a different municipality that the higher education institution where you are enrolled, you can collect the year tag from most local student unions. A collection fee may be charged for collecting the year tag. Please contact your own student union’s member services for further information.

Year tag by mail

You can also receive a year tag for your Aalto student card by mailing the card to the address AYY Jäsenpalvelut, Otakaari 25, 02150 Espoo. Please include a return envelope with a stamp and your address along with your card. AYY is not responsible for items lost in the mail.

Collecting a year tag for another person

Your friend can pick up a year tag for your student card on your behalf, provided they have your student card and your student status has been updated in our system.

The year tag can only be issued by attaching it to the student card at the member service desk. It cannot be given away separately. 

New outlook of Frank App

Frank App digital student card 

You can download the Frank App app for your phone and access the service’s discounts free of charge. You can download the digital student card after paying the student union’s membership fee. An electronic photo must be attached to the card order.

Please note that new students can only download the digital student card once their membership details have been transferred from the university to Frank. This transfer typically takes 1-5 days after becoming a member.

Explore Frank at frank.fi.

For Frank’s digital and plastic student card, you can purchase an ISIC licence that serves as an internationally accepted student ID. With the ISIC student card, you can access student-priced flights from various companies, among other benefits. In Finland, student-priced flights are available through Kilroy.

Frank Alumni – discounts for recent graduates as well 

Frank's users can now continue to enjoy Frank's discounts and browse job ads even after graduation. The student card view is closed to alumni users, but otherwise, recent graduates will receive almost all the same discounts and notifications as before!

Users automatically transition to alumni status after their student status ends. To continue using the Frank Alumni, students must already use Frank during their studies. As Frank Alumni, users will retain access to the service for 24 months. 

Person with overalls holding a phone with a digital student card on the screen

Kide.app digital student card 

Kide.app’s digital student ID, or student card, is a service for students produced and maintained by Kide.app. With the card, students can access benefits from various services and products.

The student card is valid for the academic year, and the student’s attendance/non-attendance status, or student status, is verified monthly through Haka authentication. The card’s validity ends if there are changes to the student status that no longer meet the requirements defined for issuing the card.

Frank’s and Kide.app’s digital student cards differ in how they verify student status. Frank verifies your student status from AYY member register transferred from Aalto’s student register, whereas Kide.app verifies your student status through Haka authentication.

Further information on Kide.app can be found here.

Person with overalls holding a phone with a digital student card on the screen

Digital student card Pivo to be closed down on 4 Sept 2024 

OP bank will close down Pivo on 4 Sept 2024. You can use Pivo as a student card as usual until its closing day, as long as your student card is valid. You can order a digital student card from Frank or Kide.app.

  • Published:
  • Updated:
Share
URL copied!