Systems, devices and methods are directed toward authenticating users to provide access to the users. A portable communication device, suitable for use in authenticating a user, includes a memory including a reference biometric for a user, a biometric reader, and a processor coupled to the memory and biometric reader. The processor is configured to, among other operations, compare a biometric of the user, as captured at the biometric reader, to the reference biometric stored in the memory. When the captured biometric matches the reference biometric, the processor is configured to authenticate the user and transmit an authentication signal to thereby provide access to the user. In various aspects, the authentication signal includes an identifier associated with the user, whereby other devices are able to recognize the user and authenticate the user based on the authentication signal, generally, without the user being separately authenticated at the other devices.