CR80News
Fall 2010
Exploring the utilization of identification technologies on college and university, K-12 and corporate campuses
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Contents
Fall 2010
4 | OPINION | ‘A Modest Proposal’ for student financial education
20 | BUSINESS | Financial aid disbursement company goes ‘Higher’ following IPO
6 | ID SHORTS | News and posts from CR80News.com
23 | INNOVATION | CSU’s mobile app looks to replace student IDs
6 | VIDEOS | Campus card clips from CR80News.com
24 | SECURITY | Emerson’s contactless conversion
12 | FEATURE | Building a campus card: Creating a program from the ground up
26 | INNOVATION | Student IDs enable bike sharing programs
16 | REGULATION | ‘Red Flag Rules’ catch card offices by surprise
28 | HOW-TO | Keeping your card printer in tip-top shape
18 | PAYMENTS | New York Attorney General Cuomo fights payment card marketing on campus
30 | CASE STUDY | Duke adds mobile features to card system
26 | INNOVATION | Student IDs enable bike sharing programs
28 | HOW-TO | Keeping your card printer in tip-top shape
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Agilysys www.agilysys.com/hospitality Blackboard www.blackboard.com/contactless The CBORD Group www.cbord.com Digital Identification Solutions www.cbord.com Evolis www.evolis.com HID Global www.hidglobal.com/migration/CR80 NACCU www.naccu.org/2011 Off Campus Solutions www.offcampussolutions.com SARGENT www.sargentlock.com U.S. Bank www.usbank.com/campusbanking Wells Fargo www.wellsfargo.com
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Perspective EXECUTIVE EDITOR & PUBLISHER Chris Corum, chris@AVISIAN.com EDITOR Zack Martin, zack@AVISIAN.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andy Williams, andy@AVISIAN.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ryan Clary, Liset Cruz, Seamus Egan, Autumn Giusti, Ross Mathis, Ed McKinley ART DIRECTION TEAM Darius Barnes, Ryan Kline ADVERTISING SALES Chris Corum, chris@AVISIAN.com Sales Department, advertise@AVISIAN.com SUBSCRIPTIONS CR80News is free to qualified professionals in the U.S. For those who do not qualify for a free subscription, the annual rate is US$29 ($59 outside the U.S.). Visit http://store.avisian.com for subscription information. No subscription agency is authorized to solicit or take orders for subscriptions. Postmaster: Send address changes to AVISIAN Inc., 315 E. Georgia Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301. ABOUT CR80News CR80News is published twice a year by AVISIAN Inc., 315 E. Georgia Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301. Chris Corum, President and CEO. Circulation records are maintained at AVISIAN Inc., 315 E. Georgia Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301. Copyright 2010 by AVISIAN Inc. All material contained herein is protected by copyright laws and owned by AVISIAN Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. The inclusion or exclusion of any does not mean that the publisher advocates or rejects its use. While considerable care is taken in the production of this and all issues, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions, unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork, etc. AVISIAN Inc. is not liable for the content or representations in submitted advertisements or for transcription or reproduction errors. EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Submissions for positions on our editorial advisory board will be accepted by email only. Please send your qualifications to info@AVISIAN.
‘A Modest Proposal’ for student financial education Zack Martin Editor, AVISIAN Publications College students are in trouble on two fronts. They are not educated about money and they are sitting ducks for fraudsters waiting to steal their identities and financial information. We have known this for a decade yet the situation seems only to be getting worse. So much like Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” from 1729 in which he proposed that an end to financial difficulties for the Irish could be found through the consumption of children, I would like to offer my own Modest Proposal. Prior to entering college, all students would be required to pass a three-month financial education seminar. MON-101: This entry-level course explores the basics of money, what it looks like, how a wallet works, how to fill out a check and card swipe techniques. MON-102: Learn advanced financial techniques such as balancing a checkbook, paying bills in a timely manner and understanding the subtle differences between a credit and debit card. The difference between credit and debit is of the utmost importance. Students would learn that with one card they must make sure they have money in the account before trying to use it. With the other they need to make sure they will be able to pay back the bank. So while that 50-inch big screen might seem like a good idea, students might want to think twice before making that purchase.
“Checks, Student IDs, debit and credit cards: These aren’t for sharing” would be a month long lesson instructing students not to give these cards to others. After passing a two-day exam students would be allowed to begin school at the college of their choosing. However, because the lessons of the summer may take time to sink in, the institution is morally obligated to protect its enrollees from themselves. Students have shown that unfettered access to their own bank accounts typically ends in disaster. Thus all funds will be put into one campus-held account and be doled out to students via a weekly allowance. Institutions that really care about the well being of their students can add further protections on top of my proposal. Campus police could be empowered to enforce acceptable spending habits. ATMs could be set to administer an electro shock when students try to overdraw their accounts. Housing could withhold the allowance of students that don’t clean their dorm rooms. The possibilities are endless once administrators recognize that they have but four years (or five, six …) to impart basic life skills on the children that come to play in their intramural sandboxes. For those that take offense to these ideas, remember that at least my Modest Proposal doesn’t involve eating our students. Avisian Publishing is developing the curriculum for these classes. For more information contact zack@avisian.com.
MON-103: The final month would attempt to teach students about identity theft. 4 | CR80News | Fall 2010
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ID SHORTS Highlights from the leading campus identification and security publication. Stay up-to-date on all the news at www.CR80News.com
Seattle University signs U.S. Bank for campus card banking
be about $500,000, almost double the original budget.
Seattle University signed a three-year contract with U.S. Bank to provide banking services free of charge to its students. The deal will add debit card functionality to university’s campus identification cards. U.S. Bank representatives will also perform informational financial seminars on campus.
Transportation Services and the Husky Card Account and ID Center have tentatively pushed back the distribution of new Husky Cards until spring 2011. Students will receive a new Husky Card at no cost, regardless of whether they plan to participate in the U-PASS program.
Other benefits for students include four free non-U.S. Bank transactions a month, one waved overdraft fee, free replacement of lost or stolen Seattle University ID cards and personalized email or text notifications. Participation in the program is completely optional. Students will not be required to convert their ID cards or attend U.S. Bank seminars. U.S. Bank also agreed to cover the cost of upgrading card readers – to units that can read both the old cards and the new cards – via a $25,000 signing incentive.
UW delays smart card transit project The University of Washington has pushed back the rollout date to eliminate the U-PASS sticker and replace it with smart card technology. The U-PASS – a physical sticker that is affixed to the back of UW’s official ID card – is a bus pass that provides students, faculty and staff with low-cost transportation options on public buses, commuter trains and light rail. Last year, the university announced it was doing away with the U-PASS sticker and replacing it with smart card technology that would enable administration to better determine the status of a person’s card or if eligibility for the U-PASS program has changed. However, school officials told UW’s newspaper The Daily that the large population has made this a challenge, requiring extra time and pushing up costs. Administration says that after purchasing and printing of cards, programming, staffing and planning the total cost will
Expanding campus security, CBORD teams with ASSA ABLOY The CBORD Group announced a new partnership with security and physical access control provider ASSA ABLOY. The partnership will present CBORD users with access to ASSA ABLOY’s offline and IP-enabled electronic locksets. CBORD and the HID Global division of ASSA ABLOY have worked together in the past in collaboration on the CBORD Squadron series of access control panels as well as other CBORD CS Access elements. The ASSA ABLOY locksets, powered by CS Access, will provide campuses with a locking system that is simple to install, manage and upgradeable.
each time the student makes a minimum purchase. The first two stamps give students $1 off the next purchase, four stamps gives them $3 off a subsequent purchase. Once the card is filled the students can exchange the passport at any of the participating dining locations to receive a $12 dining card. According to the Daily Sundial report, the student is also entered into a drawing to win prizes like an iPod Touch or a mountain bike.
Evolis integrates UHF Gen 2 encoding within its card printers Card printer manufacturer Evolis has introduced ultrahigh frequency Gen 2 RFID encoding options to its single and dual-sided Pebble and Dualys card printers. The Evolis Pebble and Dualys ultra-high frequency printers support a range of applications in various vertical markets including identification and access control.
CS Access is CBORD’s IP-based door access software platform, which provides privilege management capabilities allowing schools to track and configure patron access on a 24/7 basis. The system also supports integrated alarm management and surveillance solutions for optimized campus security.
Using the RFID chip, identification of employees, customers, visitors, or students at entry and exit points of secure areas can be achieved. Additionally it is ideal for access control in high-security premises or locations where crowd control is an issue such as ski resorts, cruise ships, amusement parks or events.
CSUN students rewarded for eating on campus
Evolis partnered with TransTech Systems to introduce these ultra-high frequency card printing solutions to the market.
California State University, Northridge, is encouraging students to experience the variety of campus dining locations by giving out discounts and prizes. Students are issued a passport with 11 slots for participating CSUN dining locations to stamp
Abilene Christian addresses flaw in student ticketing system A new system at Abilene Christian University ensures only currently enrolled students can attend home football games this year.
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ID SHORTS In the past anyone with a campus ID card could show it and gain free access to home football games, something school officials say only applies to currently enrolled students. “We didn’t want to have a person who graduated in 2000 and has had their student ID for the last ten years to get into the games for free anymore,” said John Houser, assistant director of athletics and in charge of marketing, ticketing and advertising. He told The Optimist newspaper, “this new ticketing system is a way to regulate that.” Under the new system employees will be stationed at the stadium’s entrance gates, carrying portable card readers to scan student ID cards.
Schlage, ISG partner to deliver automated credential issuance Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, manufacturer of Schlage contactless smart credentials and readers, has partnered with Identification Systems Group (ISG) to deliver printing, personalization, enrollment and issuance products. Pairing Schlage technology with that of ISG, this new partnership aims to streamline the credential issuance process and its activation. ISG has developed an automated method of issuing the credentials using Datacard ID card printers. When the contactless credential is being printed, the ISG system will read the access control number from the secure Schlage sector and populate the access control database to increase efficiency and throughput. The system can also write information and keys to any sector of the contactless credential and the ISG synchronization tools allow for data to be sent to other applications that need it.
College of the Holy Cross goes off-campus with Heartland College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., has selected Heartland Payment Systems’ Campus Solutions to implement a new campus card program and develop its off-campus program with Heartland’s Give Something Back Network. The Crusader OneCard, the official Holy Cross ID card, provides students, faculty and staff with access to an array of services including printing, copying, vending, library, laundry and access dining services on-campus. As part of the new system students will be able to use their Crusader OneCard to access a prepaid, FDIC-insured account to make purchases on-campus and off-campus at participating merchants.
New student IDs grant access to dorms and combat identity theft Tufts University in Boston is issuing new IDs to students that will bring more features and added technology. According to The Tufts Daily, the new IDs will institute separate student ID and JumboCash numbers for students who still have a single number for both purposes. This is necessary to bring Tufts in compliance with a 2008 Massachusetts law aimed at combating identity theft. Under the law, financial data must be kept separate from personal information. Since JumboCash numbers are linked to storedvalue accounts, they are considered payment identitifiers and under the law and must be kept distinct from student ID numbers. The new IDs will also feature a contactless chip to facilitate access to dorms replacing the university’s current keyfobs used as access control tokens. The only loss it seems is the removal of
the old single track magnetic ‘junk’ stripe that was used for vending and copy transactions in the past.
ACLU questions county’s decision to track students with microchips The American Civil Liberties Union is questioning Contra Costa County, Calif. on their implementation of a microchip-tracking program in their preschool centers. Contra Costa’s tracking initiative called Child Location, Observation and Utilization Data System, or CLOUDS for short, assigns students a shirt that has a small locator chip sewn into the chest area. According to the California Watch, Parents can digitally sign in students after being dropped off at the beginning of the day, at which point the tracking device sends a signal to a computer in the administrative office. Each child is seen in real time as a moving dot on the screen, and if a child strays out of its assigned area, an alert is sent to the teacher. The ACLU is asking the county to provide more information about their program, the technical specifications of the microchips and how the program originated. A spokesperson for Contra Costa County said, “The program does not intend to harm or put any child at risk. It is meant to enable teachers to focus more on classroom instruction by freeing them from filing attendance reports.”
Auburn’s mandatory meal plan spurs student lawsuit Three Auburn University students aren’t thrilled with the school’s mandatory meal plan. They’re so “not thrilled” that they’ve filed suit against the university, claiming the plan violates restraint of trade and Alabama law. Beginning with the class of 2012, which started in August 2008, the dining plan was made mandatory. Those who live on campus are Fall 2010 | CR80News | 7
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ID SHORTS charged $995 per semester, while off-campus students pay $300, both in addition to the cost of tuition. The lawsuit claims that the University’s policy to charge a mandatory dining fee in addition to the cost of tuition is unfair.
Two California colleges select campus card banking partners Students at UC Davis and California State University, Sacramento now have the ability to link their campus ID cards to U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, respectively. UC Davis students will be able to use their student ID card to perform ATM debit transactions if they sign up for a U.S. Bank account, and the same goes for CSUS students who sign with Wells Fargo. It’s a win-win for both parties. College officials say they are able to preserve campus programs and, in turn, banks get to market their products and services directly to college students. The banks partnering with UC Davis and Sacramento State aren’t allowed to market credit cards or student loans. According to the Sacramento Bee, the annual money CSUS gets from Wells Fargo goes to support the office that makes the ID cards, said campus spokesman John Kepley. UC Davis will use the money it gets from U.S. Bank to support student services, including the crosscultural center and the advising center, said Brett Burns of campus student affairs.
JU upgrades campus card program with the aid of CardSmith Jacksonville University has teamed with campus card service provider CardSmith for the expansion of its Dolphin 1Card program. The Dolphin 1Card is JU’s of-
ficial campus ID card, and key to a range of campus facilities and services including library privileges, door access and dining plan transactions. Student use their Dolphin 1Card to access to Dolphin Dollars, a pre-paid spending account that students can use at campus dining locations, the bookstore, copy machines, pay-forprint stations and more. CardSmith’s software as a service transaction processing platform is replacing the campus’s existing card system, and enabling new capabilities, services and features. Students and parents will now have 24/7 access to an online account center where they both can add funds, view transactions, and manage account information. CardSmith will also manage a toll-free customer care service with live-agent support for parents, students and other stakeholders. Starting this fall students will be able to use Dolphin Dollars at local businesses near the JU campus and at the existing network of merchants that participate in the University of North Florida’s Osprey 1Card program.
Singapore campus taps Legic for dorm access control Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is using LEGIC contactless technology to manage access to its campus dorms. Access to the campus’ 6,000 student dormitories will be managed by this new solution, which allows students to obtain their constantly changing access privileges at online readers and then carrying the ‘key’ to offline, standalone terminals.
UW Madison selects NuVision for one card upgrade The University of Wisconsin-Madison has chosen NuVision Networks to upgrade its existing card system. The company’s CampusONE suite will go live in July and provide the university’s 42,000 students with a new card for laundry,
vending, privilege management and on and off campus purchases. The University will be utilizing IBM SurePOS 500 point of sale terminals for its dining services and Tempest touchscreen card readers for privilege control and point of sale.
HID Global releases new line of Fargo printers HID Global introduced a new line of direct-to-card FARGO printer/encoders. The new product line is made up of three models designed to meet the needs of both small organizations and global enterprises. This is the first new line of printers introduced since HID purchased Fargo in 2006. The line consists of the DTC1000 entry-level printer for small organizations; the professional-level DTC4000 printer for small- to mediumsize organizations with more security and scalability requirements; and the advanced, DTC4500 professional printer for large corporations and government organizations with high-volume needs, says Ryan Park, senior product marketing manager for secure issuance at HID. Each of these printers comes with Swift ID, says Park, an embedded application that enables users to create their ID badge. After plugging the printer into a computer via a USB or Ethernet cable and installing the printer drivers a user can access the application through a Web browser to design the badge. The DTC FARGO line is also modular in design and enables organizations to add functionality as their needs grow. Depending on the printer model, options include technology card encoding – iCLASS, Mifare, DESFire – dual-sided printing, dual-input card hoppers, lamination capability and more.
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ID SHORTS The 1000 is priced at $2299, the 4000 is $2899 and the 4500 is $3199. All DTC printer/encoders are available immediately through HID Global’s network of distribution partners and system integrators.
Card readers enable students to check meal balance New card readers installed at University of Missouri dining halls make checking student meal plan balances easier for students and staff. With the new readers students simply swipe their card to receive their balance, so they no longer have to rely on a staff member for the information. Before, students were calling the campus dining services office, which students say is inconvenient because it is only open during certain hours. “The offices were receiving so many phone calls that it had to bring in more people just to answer the phones,” campus dining services spokesman Andrew Lough told the student newspaper, The Maneater. Lough also said that future plans include online access to the system enabling students to login to a Web site for balance inquiry and to update their meal plans.
Infinite Campus unveils web-based solution Infinite Campus Inc. announced the availability of Cafeteria Serve, a new point-of-sale food service option with an integrated online payment functionality. This new service, designed for cafeteria operations not requiring cash or complex menus, comes as part of the Campus Food Service license from Infinite Campus. Designed to streamline cafeteria operations, Campus Food Service establishes individual
food service accounts, tracks purchases and designs flexible menu layouts. It enables cafeteria staff to review food service transactions, such as meal counts, through a simple Web interface. Parents and guardians can also access to their students’ meal selections and account balances in real time through the Campus Portal. Infinite Campus also announced Campus Online Payments which enables parents, guardians and staff to use Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover cards, or direct debits from a checking or savings account to pay for food service charges and other school fees.
gies. HID readers can be used with single- and combination-technology cards including a dual-high frequency credential. HID’s expanded offering includes: • An iCLASS reader for migration from MIFARE Classic to secure MIFARE DESFire EV1 and iCLASS contactless technology • New multiCLASS readers for migration from legacy magnetic stripe and prox card technology to higher-security iCLASS contactless technology • A dual-high frequency credential, which bridges the gap between legacy solutions and secure iCLASS and MIFARE DESFire EV1 contactless technologies.
Chinese students use cell phones as campus cards
CU ends financial kickbacks from student payment cards
Students in Chongqing, China are using their mobile phones instead of an ID card for traditional campus applications.
The University of Colorado is ending an agreement with Elevations Credit Union that provided the school with a financial kickback when students signed up for debit and credit cards.
The multi-service platform, developed by Chongqing Telecom, combines the functions of a dining card, student ID, library card, and dorm access card and replaces it with a mobile phone, according to People’s Daily Online. A similar system combined the functions of a transit fare collection card and payment card into a mobile phone. Chongqing Telecom’s new campus service platform expanded the services to include those to include those found in education environments. The system has already been piloted in schools and will be expanded to the public early next year.
HID unveils series of new readers and dual tech credentials
The campus currently receives $1.25 to $1.75 from Elevations every time a student signs up for a card, reportedly netting the university about $65,000 a year. CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard told the Daily Camera that debit cards account for 78% of the new signups and credit cards make up 38%. The overlap represents students who signed up for both credit and debit cards. The spokesman added that the university does not actively market the credit union, nor does it provide students’ names to credit card companies. The university does, however, offer a Web link to Elevations through its Buff One Card program, which allows students to use their student ID as an ATM and debit card, linking it to their Elevations Credit Union accounts.
HID Global unveiled a new access-control reader and credential offerings that provide an options for migrating from legacy solutions to 13.56 MHz contactless smart card technolo-
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CR80News.com/videos watch these and more videos online …
Enabling campus IDs for bus rides
Smart cards competitive with prox
The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. has deployed an application to make sure only students ride the school’s bus system between its campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis, says Read Winkelman, vice president of sales at CBORD. The buses are equipped with wireless access control readers that connect to access control panels around campus to verify students in real time.
The lower cost of contactless smart cards is making the technology more competitive with legacy proximity card technology, says Jennifer Toscano, marketing manager at Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies. Smart cards offer more security than prox and enable an end user to add applications beyond access control, Toscano says. Schlage, a division of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, offers multi-technology readers and cards.
ColorID: Biometric use increasing on campus Biometrics are being used more frequently on campus for access to high-security areas, says David Stallsmith, director of product marketing at ColorID. Data centers, animal labs and medical facilities are the areas where two-factor authentication, a card and biometric, are being used. Stallsmith also says that the “ick” factor around biometrics is declining as campuses and individuals realize that the identification technology offers greater security.
Santa Clara deploys contactless couponing Santa Clara University wanted to increase awareness of specials in their dining program so the school put up digital signage at the card office advertising coupons and promotions. They also installed a contactless reader so students could present their cards and download a coupon that could be redeemed immediately at the dining facility, explains Jeff Staples, vice president of market development and strategy at the campus card provider. “It was a fantastic opportunity for the institution to put the power of the contactless element into the students’ hands and give them an opportunity to realize an immediate benefit,” says Staples.
Fairleigh Dickinson uses campus cards for fuel purchases Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, issued a campus card that corresponds with each university-owned vehicle which can be used for fuel purchases, says Wendy R. Welch, vice president of client services at CardSmith. “As the drivers check out the vehicles for their shift they can go to the participating station, use the card, fuel the vehicles and all that money remains internal,” Welch says. “And because its an off-campus merchant there’s royalties and commissions that come back to the school as part of that transaction.”
Adding dining options with Off Campus Solutions “The OCS offering is a little different, on the technology side especially, because of how we manage transactions,” says Greg Baker, chief technology officer at Off Campus Solutions. “We take terminals, put them into merchant locations (or they can use their existing POS) and write to our interface … our transactions go to a central processing unit which is part of a global processing center … so it never goes down.”
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Building a campus card Creating an ID program from the ground up Zack Martin Editor, AVISIAN Publications Launching a brand new campus card program isn’t as easy as signing a contract and cutting a check. There are many steps a schools needs to go through before they even choose a vendor. CR80News asked questions to campus card vendors asking what a school would have to do if starting a campus card program from scratch. The questions ranged from how much an existing IT infrastructure impacts system selection, to what needs to be budgeted beyond the vendor contract amount to upgrade existing networks and how a campus card office should be staffed. Vendors were hesitant to talk dollar figures for a new system as costs can go beyond the contract with the campus card vendor. Software and IT networks may have to be upgraded, an expenditure that could potentially be more than the contract with the campus card vendor depending on the size and scope of the project. But at the same time an institution can reap rewards. Significant cost savings and even new revenue streams are attainable. “We review with them areas where they can make money back and do an ROI based on the scope of the project,” says Fred Emery, vice president and general manager at Heartland Campus Solutions.
And then there are the very real benefits – such as increased security – that are difficult to quantify. “Can you put a price on the security of students,” asks Emery. “Just having a safe environment is a prime driver for educational institutions and it’s hard to do an ROI on that.” Systems also automate previously manual tasks, says Read Winkelman, vice president of sales at the CBORD Group. “There are many soft costs in a manual operation that may not be so evident,” he says, “so a true (cost) comparison may be difficult.” But there are other items to take into account when it comes to cost, Winkelman says. “There are key indicators that can be used to benchmark the cost over time – deposits on hand, increase in meal plan sign ups, reduction of lost keys,” he says. “Taken with the hard costs of hardware, software, implementation and staffing, it is possible to determine the cost, or benefit, of a campus card system.” In the beginning … Before even looking for vendors a university should figure out what they want the ID card to do and then take stock of the different systems that could be impacted by those applications, says Tom Bell, vice president of industry relations at Blackboard.
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Point-of sale systems in the dining halls and book stores, print and copy services, student information systems, personnel systems and physical access control systems are just a few of systems that could be impacted with a campus card. Bell says most campuses don’t realize the array of different systems impacted by an ID card. “I’ve been on campuses the last year where there are three or four different access control systems,” he says. “This creates an interesting challenge for the campus and those supporting it.” During the inventory process the institution should name a point person to oversee the deployment, says Emery. “We recommend that there is one person who is the project liaison,” he says. While a single point person is recommended, various tasks can be farmed out to other college offices, Emery says. For example, security can pull certain reports and housing can address different access control rules “We try to separate functions to different campus business entities so personnel can manage tasks,” he says. This cross-campus involvement is important for managing the workload but also ensuring ultimate buy-in. While there should be one point person it’s important to get others around campus involved, says Jay Summerall, president at CardSmith. “Key stakeholders need to be included, such as dining service operators, bookstore managers, vending and laundry contractors,” he says. “The card program will affect how these auxiliaries operate, so it’s important that they
understand how it works and their part in the process. Library and public safety personnel also need to be included because the card’s encoding may affect their operations. Business or Finance offices too, because the card program will involve funds transfers, accounting and reconciliation.” During the vendor selection process the campus card provider will work with the school to figure out its goals and what systems to deploy, Emery says. Some institutions may only want physical access control and meals plans while others may also want printing/copying and vending, laundry and an off-campus program. The feature set lays the groundwork for assessing a school’s IT infrastructure and whether or not upgrades are required. Upgrading a network can be the largest cost associated with a campus card system, Bell says. “Pulling wire is an expensive thing,” he says. A new physical access control system often requires new locking mechanisms and card readers. This can be problematic in some environments, Bell says. He points to Duke University’s historic buildings with stone walls and elaborate doorways. Making changes to such facilities can be difficult, expensive or even prohibited by architectural code. Even devices that run on wireless networks can still require mechanical changes to be made. New staff? Another cost to keep in mind is the real estate and staffing for the campus card office. Vendors agree that the card office must be in a
central location so students can have easy access. Staffing can be a bit more difficult to figure out and is one of the more pressing questions confronting new programs. Winkelman says it depends on the size of the program and the amount of help from other departments. “Generally a card office would need at least one full-time campus card system administrator and one back-up that is at least half time,” he says. “So, one and a half to two full-time equivalents to begin with.” There are other options for staffing models, says Brian Adoff, national sales manager at NuVision Networks. He offers three different staffing models: the IT department model, the card office model and the auxiliary services model. The IT model is for smaller schools and community colleges that have an IT infrastructure but not necessarily a dedicated OneCard department. “In some schools it is one person from IT or sometimes it’s the whole IT department that shares the responsibilities,” Adoff says. “They are generally responsible for maintaining hardware, servers and programs, and providing assistance to users.” In this model the individual departments – dining services, bookstore, housing – are responsible for administering their piece of the program. This IT department model works best with a strong, communicative campus card committee, Adoff says. The card office model employs a card office manager and potentially clerical help, Adoff says. This model makes the card office responsible for data flow, ID production and support for departments using the system. As with the
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“Key stakeholders also need to be included, such as dining service operators, bookstore managers, vending and laundry contractors. The card program will affect how these auxiliaries operate, so it’s important that they understand how it works and their part in the process.”
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IT model, individual departments are still responsible for their items though a dedicated resource is available for support. In the card office there is a strong financial focus for selfsustainability and revenue generation. The most involved model is the auxiliary services model in which the card program operates as a standalone business unit. It typically employs a director, assistant director and administrative support, Adoff says. Auxiliary services is financial-based and responsible for all parts of the operation. This includes: data flow, card office, dining services, bookstore, vending, off campus, parking. Adoff stresses that this model is not appropriate in all cases, but he has found that total control of the card program in one office typically enables quicker, cohesive expansion of the program. CardSmith employs a software as a service model designed to limit the staffing and infrastructure requirements on the campus. Summerall says one employee is typically necessary but there is no need for a system or database administrator in their environment. “Card production and basic customer service can be provided by an issuing office such as the Public Safety Office or a ‘one stop shop’ that supports other campus operations,” Summerall says. But depending on the size or scope of a project a dedicated manager can be beneficial. “If the program scales large enough, a small, dedicated card office can also make sense,” Summerall says. Card technology While magnetic stripe has been defacto ID technology on campus for years contactless smart cards are making inroads to the campus market. The system vendors should work with the institution to determine the technology or technologies best suited for the specific situation. Technology selection again hinges on what the campus wants to do with the card, vendors agree. “It’s very important to educate (the campus decision makers) on available technologies so they understand their options,” Blackboard’s Bell says.
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“Campuses need to have the resources set aside and make sure marketing is in place so students know about the program.” - Fred Emery, Heartland
Deployment
Lessons learned
So the inventory has been done, the project scoped, a vendor selected and wire pulled. It is time to deploy but the question is when to rollout the new system?
There are precautions institutions can take to minimize problems during the rollout.
“Most programs launch over the summer; that’s never a bad idea,” Summerall says. “But it certainly can be done at winter break with proper planning.” Others disagree with the preference for summer rollouts. Bell says summer is the worst time to deploy a campus card system. “I was on a campus for 30-years and I understand the drive to do everything in the summer but it’s wrong,” he says. Staff vacations, competing projects and rushed deadlines are all obstacles to overcome trying to deploy a new system during the summer, Bell says. Starting a deployment at the beginning of a fall semester works well, Bell has found. “The most staff is around, it helps with training and understanding what’s going on,” he says. NuVision’s Adoff says that a mid-semester launch can work just as well. “All of the campus staff is present and there is actual student data to practice with,” he says. As for the length of time that it will take to deploy a new system, it seems there is no perfect answer. Vendors say it varies depending on the size and scope of the system, and estimates range from eight to 12 weeks.
Figure out the scope of the project and don’t go overboard, Winkelman says. “Involve key stakeholder departments in the planning, even if they won’t have much of a role in the initial deployment,” he says. “It’s important that they are on board from the beginning. In determining initial applications for rollout, talk to students and see what they want. They probably have some great ideas that you may not have considered.” Getting the word out about the program to students is also important, says Heartland’s Emery. “You need to have the resources set aside and make sure marketing is in place so students know about the program,” he says. Having the administration involved with this helps, says Winkelman. “The president of the college or university should have a card, and use it frequently and visibly,” he says. “That will show the campus’ commitment to the program and have a major impact on success.” Schools need to make sure to identify who will be in overseeing the card program from the start,” says Summerall. “The biggest mistake from our perspective, is not identifying an owner for the card program, and a clear set of priorities,” he says. “Without an effective management model, the program will underperform its potential.” And don’t forget to budget for ongoing recurring costs. “Buying a system to last forever won’t work,” says Bell. Hardware and software will require upgrades just like every other critical IT system.
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‘Red Flag Rules’
catch card offices by surprise Campuses must secure students IDs Andy Williams Associate Editor, AVISIAN Publications Students, either because of their naivety or just plain carelessness, are ideal candidates to have their identities stolen. They may loan their campus card to another student to use in the dining hall or just leave their card and other personal possessions unattended while they participate in a basketball game. New rules set to take effect at the end of this year are designed to protect students from their own negligence while providing more paperwork for colleges. These “red flag rules,” designed to protect bank customers–and students – against ID theft, have caught many schools by surprise. Ramonia Prosise, manager of university telecom services and the 1Card at Virginia State University, Petersburg, Va. gave college administrators a heads up on red flag during this year’s National Association of Campus Card Users conference in Phoenix in April. The rules have caused concern for some campuses while others may not even realize they exist. Prosise had been working on a white pa-
per for NACCU about it and the presentation at the conference dovetailed with it. “A lot of schools were taken by surprise,” she says. The rule was developed under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), where Congress directed the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies to develop regulations requiring creditors and financial institutions to address the risk of identity theft. The resulting rules require organizations that provide covered financial accounts to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help detect patterns or activities – known as “red flags” – that could indicate identity theft. The rule became effective Jan. 1, 2008, with compliance originally required by that November. But a series of extensions have pushed the deadline back to Dec. 31, 2010. FACTA defines a financial institution as any organization that offers accounts enabling consumers to write checks or make payments to third parties through other means.
Common red flags Relevant red flags can include: • Alerts, notifications, or warnings from a consumer reporting agency; • Suspicious documents; • Suspicious personally identifying information;
To comply with the red flag rules Virginia State is going to add a PIN for transactions. The new system should be rolled out by the end of the year.
Under this definition, universities that hold student funds in an account and give students a card to make purchases at off-campus locations are considered financial institutions. If the school provides government benefits or administers flexible spending accounts and gives students a debit card to access the funds they would also be considered a financial institution. Schools that offer tuition payments plans or that bill for tuition after students attend class could also be included depending on how the specific program is structured. Schools that require payment up front or that offer pay as you go plans that would bar students from class if they don’t pay are not considered creditors and thus would not be impacted. What to do?
• Suspicious activity relating to a covered account; or • Notices from customers, victims of identity theft, law enforcement authorities, or other entities about possible identity theft in connection with covered accounts.
There are a number of things schools can do to comply with the rules. “It starts at the top, through a university governing body that can appoint a board committee made up of vice
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presidents, internal auditors, etc.,” says Prosise. That’s how Virginia State handled it. That governing body started by reviewing anything that might deal with ID information for the school’s customers and students, she says. VSU then took the FTC information and adopted it to our own language and standards,” she adds.
ple don’t know where to start,” Prosise says There are four basic steps to designing a program to comply with the red flag rule. An institution should know how to identify and detect red flags, prevent or mitigate ID theft and have a system in place that will update the program periodically. Relevant red flags can include:
Virginia State hasn’t had any major ID theft issues, says Prosise, “But there’s been some minor instances, like students taking other students’ ID cards and trying to pass it off in the cafeteria,” she says. “You’re spending someone else’s money, which is just as bad as taking someone’s ID.” The most common offense students are guilty of is passing around student IDs, says Prosise. It’s their way of lending money to one another. Students need to be told not do this because the cards that are attached to other financial accounts can be at risk. PINs currently aren’t required at Virginia State but each card, supplied by Heartland Campus Solutions, does have the student’s photo. In order to prevent student’s from using one another’s IDs a clerk would have to match the photo to the one on the ID, which doesn’t always happen. In one instance, a student stole $300 from another student because no one bothered to check the photos. The card is a basic ID with a mag stripe with a proximity chip for physical access control, says Prosise. To comply with the red flag rules Virginia State is going to add a PIN for transactions. The new system should be rolled out by the end of the year. Penalties Colleges that don’t comply with red flag can be fined civil penalties and injunctive relief for violations. The law sets $3,500 as the maximum civil penalty per violation. The FTC, however, has no formalized plan in place to assure compliance. But if complaints are leveled against an institution, the agency could insist on seeing the organization’s red flag rule processes. The FTC also doesn’t tell institutions specifically what red flag programs must look like. This has caused some consternation. “A lot of peo-
• Alerts, notifications, or warnings from a consumer reporting agency; • Suspicious documents; • Suspicious personally identifying information; • Suspicious activity relating to a covered account; or • Notices from customers, victims of identity theft, law enforcement authorities, or other entities about possible identity theft in connection with covered accounts. Prosise provides some examples of what makes a document suspicious: • Documents provided for ID purposes that appear to have been altered or forged. • The photograph or physical description on the ID is not consistent with the applicant’s appearance. • Other information on the ID is not consistent with information provided by the person opening a new account or with information that is on file with the university, such as a signature card. • An application appears to have been altered. To determine that personal information from an applicant is bogus, universities need to look for inconsistencies in the information provided by the students, says Prosise. If a red
flag crops up a university’s response could include monitoring the account or contacting the cardholder when it’s spotted. “Sometimes you may determine that no response is necessary. In other cases, certain events such as a recent data breach, a phishing fraud that targeted your institution, or another suspicious activity may raise the risk of identity theft and require specific preventive actions,” says Prosise. One key step in ID theft prevention is to educate students on how easy it is for their ID to be stolen. VSU presents a skit at the beginning of each semester to illustrate this, says Prosise. “We try to tell them what not to do. Don’t leave your things unattended. Protect yourself. Don’t even trust your roommate,” Prosise warns. “We have a zero tolerance for theft.” While a student’s picture is usually required when he enrolls, that’s not good enough for the day the student steps on campus. “On that day I want that student’s picture taken, I don’t want one from high school,” says Prosise. She says the policies the university is developing will be turned over to the FTC by the governing board. VSU is currently meeting all the red flag requirements but since the red flag rules were written primarily to include banks and other financial institutions, she intends to meet with the bank affiliated with the school to see if anything else is needed, she adds. While banks are intent on complying with red flag, those contacted by CR80News did not want to be interviewed on the subject. “It’s a sensitive area,” says a spokesperson for one bank.
Want more on red flags? The National Association of College and University Business Officers has a Web site devoted to red flag compliance, including sample documents from several universities. That site is at: www.nacubo.org/Initiatives/FTC_Red_Flags_Rule.html
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Cuomo fights payment card marketing on campus New York Attorney General investigates credit card partnerships, deals Will the credit card restrictions extend to campus card debit programs?
A statewide probe into deceptive credit card marketing practices targeting students on New York college campuses could create headaches for the credit business, but it might be good news for campus card companies. That’s what industry leaders are hoping will follow an investigation launched in August by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, says Lowell Adkins, executive director, National Association of Campus Card Users. The attorney general’s office sent letters to 300 schools statewide requesting copies of any exclusive contracts they have with credit and debit card companies. “It’s probably going to work in favor of our part of the industry because we really don’t deal with credit,” Adkins says of the probe. “There’s only maybe a handful of schools that do their campus cards via credit, and even then it’s not a credit card.” Because most campus cards contain declining balance, debit or prepaid accounts, students and their parents are more likely to view these as financially responsible options, he says. But concerns surrounding the fees charged by some of these programs remain an issue for some.
Cuomo’s letter to NY institutions highlighted the level of this debt and the problems it causes students and graduates: “The average college student graduates with nearly $4,100 in credit card debt, on top of an average of $20,000 in loans … Credit card debt has been found to slow students’ progress toward obtaining a college degree, as some students become forced to drop out of college and obtain full-time employment to meet their debt obligations. High-interest credit card debt limits graduates’ career choices and threatens students’ employment prospects, since many employers check applicants’ credit scores during the hiring process.” The attorney general’s inquiry builds on a nationwide investigation Cuomo launched in 2007 examining the student loan industry. The new investigation could yield mixed results for banks, which often have significant presence in the credit card world but are also gaining a presence with campus card programs. “I think even the banks would say in response to all this that kids need better education about the use of payment methods in general, including credit cards,” Adkins says. Financial literacy push
“The thrust of the attorney general’s concern is that kids are getting these (credit) cards relatively easily and building up a lot of debt,” Adkins says.
At least one school system has already jumped on the attorney general’s bandwagon, Adkins says. When Cuomo’s letter went out, it included a call for schools to adopt policies to help students avoid getting saddled with credit card debt before graduation. Less than a week after receiving the request, the State University of New York (SUNY) sys-
“By agreeing to adopt these reforms, SUNY has demonstrated its commitment to protecting students from unfair credit card marketing at all of its campuses.” — Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General 18 | CR80News | Fall 2010
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tem announced a decision to adopt with the attorney general’s code of conduct to reform credit card marketing on campus. SUNY enrolls nearly 465,000 students on 64 campuses statewide. “By agreeing to adopt these reforms, SUNY has demonstrated its commitment to protecting students from unfair credit card marketing at all of its campuses,” Cuomo says in a statement. On some SUNY campuses, credit card companies have been known to work with student organizations to encourage students to fill out a credit card application in exchange for a free t-shirt or to be entered for a prize drawing. The student organization received money from the credit card company based on the number of applications completed.
of existing contracts included both credit and debit cards, subsequent statements have focused exclusively on credit. The best practices document published by the AG’s office and agreed to by SUNY was titled, New York Attorney General’s Credit Card Reforms for Colleges and Universities. Neither the title nor the text of the document made any mention of debit cards. Still Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group,
believes the attorney general should look into the relationship between students and all cards, not just credit, to determine which business models are appropriate. “Colleges are outsourcing tremendous amounts of responsibility to banks. And it’s entirely appropriate to decide whether the programs are transparent, whether they’re optional and whether the benefits to the colleges are worth the risks to the individual students of paying incredibly high fees in some cases,” Mierzwinski says.
“This type of activity no longer takes place,” says Ed Engelbride, associate provost at SUNY. The code of conduct states that schools must offer financial literacy programs for students, limit on-campus credit card marketing and keep students’ personal information private from credit card companies unless they have obtained authorization from the student to release the data. Additionally, any school that chooses to enter into an exclusive contract with a credit card company must select based on the students’ best interests. The code also forbids schools from entering into or maintaining an agreement with a credit card company in which the school earns a percentage of the finance charges imposed on students. Is debit safe from scrutiny? Engelbride does not expect SUNY’s code of conduct agreement to affect campus cards. While the initial request from Cuomo’s office that instructed campuses to provide copies
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Financial aid disbursement company goes ‘Higher’ following IPO Analysts say Higher One poised for big things, but concerns over fees loom Autumn C. Giusti Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications As financial aid disbursement goes, newly-minted public company Higher One may be positioned to school the industry. The firm’s $100 million initial public offering on June 17 was well received by analysts, who hail the New Haven, Conn.-based company as an innovator in payment processing in a space still dominated by manually intensive processes. Higher One’s business model, which focuses on electronic financial aid disbursal and on-campus banking, sets the stage for high profits, large returns and considerable growth potential, analysts say. Proceeds from the IPO will leave Higher One with about $50 million to pay off debts and build its business.
“Higher One is the clear leader in the financial aid credit balance disbursement space, with a pretty big head start over the company’s competition,” says Chris Shutler, an analyst with William Blair & Co., one of the underwriters of Higher One’s IPO. Higher One earned four out of five stars on Morningstar’s ratings scale, based on estimates of the firm’s fair market value and uncertainty factors. Morningstar pegs its fair value estimate of Higher One at $25 per share – more than double its IPO opening price. “I think the firm has established over the last several years an attractive record of growth and profitability, and as a result could make public investors comfortable with an investment in the firm,” says Morningstar analyst Michael Gaiden.
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Higher One disburses financial aid money electronically, placing funds into a dedicated account that students can access online or with a debit card at an ATM. The company’s OneAccount is an FDIC-insured checking account with no monthly fees and no minimum balances. It functions much like a normal checking account except that there are no physical bank branches. Users can check their account online or at an ATM by using the OneCard, a debit MasterCard that Higher One issues to its account holders. Because the business is technology driven with minimal face-to-face interaction, the company can keep its capital costs down. This business model helped Higher One generate an 80% return on invested capital in 2009. Since its inception in 2000, Higher One has grown to serve more than 650 colleges and universities with about 4 million students. From that student base, the company has signed up 1.2 million bank account holders.
Going public gave Higher One some added muscle in terms of capital. About half the proceeds from the IPO went to Higher One’s investors. Of the remaining $50 million, the company used about $11 million to pay off a line of credit and $8 million to close out its 2009 acquisition of the payment processing firm CASHNet. That leaves Higher One with about $31 million. The company’s strategy is to expand its market share of colleges, add more account holders and seek cross-selling opportunities.
Higher One at a glance Ticker symbol: ONE IPO date: June 17 Opening price: $12 per share Share price (as of Oct. 5): $16.97 Market cap (as of Oct. 5): $945 million 52-week high: $17.10 52-week low: $10.79 President and CEO: Dean Hatton Headquarters: New Haven, Conn. Employees: 380 Underwriters: Goldman, Sachs & Co., sole book-running manager; UBS Securities LLC, lead manager; Piper Jaffray & Co., Raymond James & Associates Inc., William Blair & Co., and JMP Securities LLC, co-managers
The higher education landscape consists of about 19 million students. Shutler believes Higher One is poised to capture half of the market share over the next decade. “It’s a very underpenetrated market,” he says. “We think the addressable market is about 10 million of those students.”
“Higher One sits in an enviable position continuing to generate strong cash flow. As a result, we believe the firm could use the funds to invest in other acquisitions or internal initiatives,” Gaiden says. Competitive and regulatory risks Challenges for Higher One could come in the form of new competitors eager to capitalize on its business model. “We think it’s quite likely that other players – whether they’re banks, payment processors, or student loan servicers – will seek entry in this highly-profitable business,” Gaiden says.
Stock growth expected
As it stands now, Higher One’s competitors include Blackboard Pay, Heartland Payment Systems, TouchNet Information Systems, Sallie Mae and the National Education Loan Network. Beyond those, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and a host of other financial institutions offer campus products that sometimes include financial aid delivery.
Higher One launched its initial public offering June 17 with nearly 14.3 million shares of common stock priced at $12 per share. The company had expected to list at $15 to $17 per share.
“The potential competitors understand the competitive landscape quite well,” Gaiden says. “Oftentimes they have large balance sheets that would allow them to invest very credibly in a service offering like Higher One’s.”
Many also have strong existing relationships with hundreds of institutions upon which they can build. But a tough regulatory environment in Washington poses a more immediate risk. Higher One released that 88% of its revenue in 2009 came from ATM fees, overdraft fees, and other banking service fees, according to an AP report from earlier this year. The Consumer Protection Act requires the Federal Reserve to consider adjusting debit fees to a level that is “reasonable and proportional with the cost of the transaction,” Sutler says. However, financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets – including Higher One’s sponsor bank, The Bancorp Bank – are exempt from this regulation. “But the concern among some investors is that MasterCard could unilaterally decide to lower debit interchange rates – not only for large card issuers but also for small card issuers. And if that happens, it could hurt Higher One’s revenue,” Sutler says. The pending legislation is likely what led to the decrease in Higher One’s initial stock price, Gaiden says. “We’ve tried to account for that negative impact in our modeling. We still believe the shares are quite undervalued,” Gaiden says. Student, media criticisms rise Higher One has been criticized in the past for the fees it levies on student account holders, says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Students have the choice of having the money transferred directly into their own bank account or using a Higher One account. If the student chooses Higher One they access the funds using a MasterCard-branded card. One fee that has drawn particular ire is the 50cent fee students have been charged for making PIN-debit transactions. This was a topic when Higher One renegotiated its contracts with Portland State and Southern Oregon universities, says Scott Gallagher, director of communications for PSU.
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In exchange for dropping the PIN-based debit fees the universities are prompting students to make signature-based transactions with the Higher One card, Gallagher says. The schools have put information on their Web site encouraging students to “swipe and sign” instead of entering the PIN. Higher One receives a higher interchange fee from merchants with a signature-based transaction opposed to a PIN-based one. Overall, Portland State tells students to use their own bank account for financial aid whenever possible, Gallagher says. At PSU roughly a third of the student population uses Higher One. Student input was a key driver to get Higher One to drop the fee, he adds. “There’s a lot of money being made on college students, and colleges have a responsibility to not put their students in the lurch,” Mierzwinski says. “I’m not sure the colleges are aware of how much the students are paying in fees. If you get a student loan refund and you end up paying fees to one of these firms, essentially
the student loan you took out is being depleted to enrich some bank.” Don Smith, vice president of sales and corporate communications for Higher One, acknowledges the criticism about fees on its OneAccount and OneCard but believes the fees are fair. The fees are in line with what students are used to paying to other financial institutions, and the company has taken extra steps to be transparent about its fees, he says. “If our fees were that much higher than our competitors, nobody would choose the OneAccount. I think a lot is made about our fees because we’re so open in how we communicate them,” he says, adding that Higher One posts its fee structure on its Web site. “I don’t know many financial institutions that do that.” The company continues to increase its emphasis on financial literacy, Smith says. Higher One recently created a new position for a financial literacy and consumer advocacy manager to reach out to college students.
Market remains bullish Despite the controversy over fee structures from some students and a handful of recent less-than-favorable news reports, the financial community remains strongly supportive of the company’s prospects. Gaiden notes analysts believe Higher One’s revenue growth will taper off from its expected pace of more than 100% this year to about 20% by 2014 as the business matures and as new federal legislation restricts banking fees. Still, many remain optimistic about Higher One’s long-term prospects. “I think it’s quite likely that the firm will continue to deliver strong financial performance, continue to build out its client platform and hopefully gird and propel the shares higher over the short and long term,” Gaiden says. “I think there’s quite a bit of good news to come out of this firm over the next few years.”
CSU’s mobile app looks to replace student IDs In partnership with Google, Columbus State University in Georgia developed a mobile application for Android-based phones that ultimately provides a substitute for the campus ID card. Students can use this app to check out books from the library and access student discounts at participating merchants. It also enables students to access real-time information such as course schedules, campus maps, athletic events, immunization records and campus bus schedules all from their Android smart phone. Robert Diveley, executive director of operations at the campus’ Office of Information and Technology Services, coordinated development of the new service. Q: What made you decide to create an Android app? A: We were looking for an open source product and a vendor that would make their technical staff available to assist us.
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Q: Is Android the only platform supported? A: We currently do have offerings for Blackberry and Microsoft-based devices, and are working toward the iPhone version now. Q: What does the Mobile App do? A: The electronic ID is capable of identifying the student through 1D and 2D bar codes. This works with bar code scanners already in use. Therefore the electronic ID can be used in places like the cafeteria, library, bookstore and we have expanded to some local independent businesses (i.e. pizza shops). Q: Is it accepted at events that require student ID for entry? A: It is used as ID for events such as concerts, exhibits and sports where students are admitted free of charge. Q: How many students are currently using the Mobile App? A: We estimate, from our mobile Web statistics, that about 85% used the Mobile Apps during our Spring 2010 Term.
Q: How does a student get the App? A: It is part of our Student Information System. Therefore users log into their normal account and are offered the opportunity to download the Mobile App Suite. Q: Are there additional functions planned? A: We are in development of proximity reader technology for access purposes. Q: Will this replace the student ID? A: The long-term goal is to offer it as an alternative to the plastic card. However not all students today have smart phones, so the replacement will follow student telephone purchase trends. Fall 2010 | CR80News | 23
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Emerson’s contactless conversion Rapid rollout on Boston campus Andy Williams Associate Editor, AVISIAN Publications Re-carding a college, even one with just 4,200 students, doesn’t come easy. When those cards feature a new technology and the time line is short, a lot of things can go wrong. For Boston’s Emerson College, however, it was a relatively smooth process and the few things that went wrong were fixed on the fly, recalls Adam Travis, Emerson’s enterprise system administrator, information technology. Technically, Emerson has no campus to speak of, says Travis. “We’re right in the theater district. Thousands walk by our buildings every day. To enter each of the eight buildings on campus you walk past a guard post.” The
school’s dorms are on the upper floors so students need to present their card to enter the building and again to enter the living areas, he adds. One element that led to the abandonment of Emerson’s previous system was the college’s implementation of the Banner system to handle payroll, student information, admissions and finance, says Travis. In the school’s older student information system, Social Security
Lessons learned from card technology upgrade Plan with future needs in mind The CBORD system enables Emerson to integrate video surveillance functionality when the campus is ready. Education is crucial “We had to let people know they couldn’t punch holes in the card because of the chip,” says Emerson’s Adam Travis, and even teach them “what to do when the readers didn’t have a slot to swipe.” Leave enough time to receive all necessary components “Our last batch of cards arrived less than 24 hours before distribution started,” Travis says. “They made it on time, but it was nerve-racking. And we had no blank stock during the week of implementation.” Communicate with other business units Because the bookstore upgraded its software during the implementation process, Travis reports that they had to scramble to ensure compatibility with the new systems. Leave time for testing and training “We didn’t have a lot of time for testing because of the tight time frame. By the time we went live in August, there wasn’t time to test the meal plans. For the most part things did work,” says Travis. But be careful. Order spares “We didn’t (invest in spare readers) to save money, but a couple readers had problems at installation,” explains Travis, suggesting that you will want to have them anyway for future needs so go ahead and get them up front.
numbers were the primary student identifier, he says, but the switch to Banner required the university to issue new student ID numbers. That, says Travis, provided an ideal opportunity to replace the legacy card system and magnetic stripe card the school used for about 10 years. When it came time to ditch the current system and to find someone to help the college re-card, Emerson looked at a number of vendors, says Travis. One vendor that caught Emerson’s eye was campus card provider CBORD. Another was Charlotte, NC-based ID provider ColorID. Both ended up providing re-carding assistance to the school. This part of the process was not a quick. The first discussions took place in 2007 but the contract was not signed until two-years later, Travis says. At about the same time Travis was negotiating with ColorID to print the new student cards. “They started getting us quotes then we had conference calls and worked closely with them in June and July,” says Travis. The new campus card deployment Emerson’s new system is more modern and enables greater flexibility and better security, says Read Winkelman, CBORD’s vice president of sales. With Emerson’s main concerns being security, contactless technology quickly rose to the top. “A contactless card tends to be more difficult to duplicate which makes it more secure,” he says. “Emerson described
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what they were looking for which helped us guide them towards the technology to re-card their system.” The university decided to go with HID’s iCLASS contactless smart card technology, Winkelman says. “iCLASS is certainly a little newer and more secure than prox,” says Winkelman. “We have 35 or 40 customers with some form of iCLASS implementation, all college campuses.” David Stallsmith, ColorID product management director, agreed that iCLASS would be beneficial compared to a prox card, citing, the increased memory and ability to be used with more applications. The top concern for many Universities is physical access control, and officials are often willing to pay a little more for a more secure card, explains Stallsmith. “We tend to recommend iCLASS in most cases because HID manufactures its own cards and their support is excellent,” he says. “When they’re going to re-card the whole campus at one time the school needs to know that the cards can be delivered on time and that they work.” Quick rollout Winkelman says the contactless conversion went fast. “From signing the contract, it took about three months.” The campus card system deployed is CBORD’s CS Gold that handles both debit, through the mag stripe, and physical access through the contactless iCLASS chip, says Winkelman. Emerson now has iCLASS readers mounted at each of the guard posts when entering buildings. “When someone presents the card, his picture comes up on the screen so the guard can see that the picture matches the photo,” says Emerson’s Travis. “He doesn’t have to look at the card but can see the photo.” Mag stripe card readers and POS terminals were installed in the dining hall. In addition, readers were installed at copying, laundry and vending machines. About 50 iCLASS-based door access readers were installed across the campus, says Travis. Emerson went with HID’s Corporate 1000 program that guarantees a certain range of ID numbers are assigned to Emerson and won’t be duplicated at any other site, says Travis. CBORD’s UGryd system for off-campus card use was also implemented. “Right now about a half dozen businesses, mostly food and one CVS pharmacy, accept the Emerson card,” says Travis. The school is also testing an elevator card reader that controls access to certain floors. “One floor of our dorm includes apartments for guest artists or scholars in residence,” says Travis. “This allows guests access to their apartment but no one else can get to that floor.”
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“A distinct advantage of utilizing contactless is that students no longer have to hand the card to a guard at the desk … they can keep the card in their wallet or bag and present it at the reader,” says Travis. When asked about the advantages for his team, he explains, “I like the fact there’s no moving parts, no mag stripe read heads which means fewer repairs.”
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Student IDs enable bike sharing programs Washington State University, Pullman, Wash., students wanted a bike sharing program, an environmentally friendly transportation alternative, on their campus. These increasingly popular programs place a fleet of bikes in a defined geographic area –an urban location, corporate center or a campus – that can be borrowed or rented at convenient points for short periods of time. Initially the students agreed to a pilot system where they could check out a bike at the Student Recreation Center or the Union Building, says Jamie Bentley, environmental wellbeing coordinator at the university. For the pilot program the school purchased 40 Trek bikes and placed them at those two centralized campus locations for check out.
The program was successful but Bentley still thought an automated system – one where they could swipe their student ID at an unattended machine to gain access to a bike – would be more convenient and popular. The students agreed and that’s when the school started looking at options for an automated system, Bentley says. Through the university bid process they were able to purchase four stations and 32 BIXI bikes. BIXI, created by Public Bike System Co., consists of specially designed bicycles, locking and checkout stations, payment kiosks and other infrastructure for bike share systems. The name comes from a combination of “bicycle” and “taxi” and the first system launched
in Montreal in 2008. Since then, BIXI has been deployed around the world in locations including Washington, D.C., London, Melbourne and Toronto. The new units were deployed at different points on Washington State’s campus in September. In the initial weeks, the program saw more success that the prior year’s pilot. As of early October the bikes had already been checked-out for 1,500 trips by more than 800 students. Last year the program barely reached 600 users. BIXI bikes are free for students, Bentley says. They just need to walk up to one of the BIXI stations and swipe their ID, read a waiver and agree to the terms. Depending on the user’s
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preference, the station either prints or displays a single use code that the student enters on appropriate keypad to access the preferred bike. Students can borrow a bike for 24-hours but after that will be subject to late fees if it’s not returned. Though an interface did not previously exist, the university was able to integrate the BIXI system with the campus card system, CBORD’s CS Gold, explains Craig Howard, director of Administrative Services Information Systems at the school. When a student swipes the card at the BIXI station, the interface validates the patron data from the card’s magnetic stripe against the data in the CS Gold system, Howard says. This ensures that the user is an enrolled student or current WSU employee before releasing a bike. The CougarCard is used to provide many different services at WSU, Howard says. Physical access control, meal plans, library privileges,
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athletic event access and off-campus purchases using Cougar CASH are just a few of the services provided. The school also has some doors equipped with prox readers for entry and a banking partnership with US Bank that enables students to link their CougarCard to a checking account so it can be used as a Visabranded debit card. Duke bikes Duke University, Durham N.C., rolled out its bike share system at the start of the Fall term. The program utilizes the Blackboard Transact system to track usage, says Matthew Drummond, director, DukeCard. Duke Bikes is free student bike-loan program that currently includes a fleet of 130 rental bikes equipped with adjustable seats, lights and flashers. Student can even rent helmets and baskets.
values. Using Blackboard’s credit and debit functionality, students can use their DukeCard account to borrow bikes for the day. At the Duke Bikes Web site, they can go also online to check the inventory of bikes available, reserve a bike or renew their rental. By integrating the bike rental program into the Blackboard system, administration is able to better manage day-to-day bike rentals. Student Life Offices can obtain a demographic analysis of each rider including their class, age, gender and number of rentals. They can also monitor overall usage patterns such as the months with the most and least amount of riders. With this data from the Blackboard system, Duke has the ability to design promotional campaigns targeted to a student’s specific needs and they can better plan for future enhancements to and expansions of the program.
Bikes are registered into the Blackboard Transact system as products and assigned point
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Keeping your card printer in tip-top shape Regular cleaning, maintenance helps eliminate down time To ensure high quality printing for your IDs and to protect your card printer investment and extend its lifespan, remember three simple words: keep it clean. Basic cleaning of desktop printers is a simple, straightforward process that anyone can do with just a bit of research and a basic understanding of the printer’s components. A card printer is a complex machine, so it should come as no surprise that routine upkeep is required. Printers contain both moving parts and sensitive, precise components that must be maintained and kept cleaned to avoid jamming, damage and reduced performance. “We do our best to educate everyone to keep the printers clean, tuned up and use the proper supplies,” says Mark Degan, corporate marketing manager at ColorID.
Instructions for cleaning specific models will vary so refer to the manual, cleaning kit inserts or search online for instructions. Additionally there are online videos demonstrating specific techniques for many makes and models. “Basic techniques are common across many units,” explains Degan. He recommends the following schedule to keep your printer in optimal working order: Internal rollers Clean the internal rollers of your printer with an approved cleaning kit every 1,000 prints or with every second ribbon change. For most printers this is done using the elongated card with adhesive to pull debris from the rollers. Simply peel off the adhesive backing and run the card through the printer. Typically this is done via the single card feed or manual insert slot.
The good news is that printer manufacturers have made the task of routine cleaning easy with specially designed cleaning kits. Customized kits are available for specific manufacturers and models and are typically available from printer suppliers or online retailers. A common single use kit costs around $30.
Print rollers With every ribbon change, clean the rollers that feed cards into the printer using a water dampened lint free cloth. This is important to ensure that cards feed into the printer correctly to avoid jams and damage.
Items contained in a cleaning kit will vary based on the requirements of the specific printer but often include elongated cards or rollers with adhesive to grab dust and dirt, pens or swabs with cleaning solution, dustfree cleaning cloths and other supplies.
Print head Using the pen or swab provided with the approved kit, carefully clean the print head each time you change the ribbon. With the ribbon removed and the print head visible, gently rub the pen or swab back and forth across the
print head to remove and dust or residue. Allow the print head to dry completely before replacing the ribbon. Body of printer With each ribbon change, clean the outside of your printer with the alcohol-saturated cloth included with the cleaning kit. Use a dry dustfree cloth to gently remove dust from the exposed areas inside the printer as well. Beyond these normal cleaning processes that can safely be done on site, Degan recommends annual maintenance from a factory trained service technician as well. “We send out reminders to our customers telling them that when they have a moment of down time, it is a good idea to get a tune up,” says Degan. He describes ColorID’s tune-up program as, “a small investment that covers replacement parts and gives them insurance that their printer is operating at its peak.” During the tune-up, a factory-trained technician inspects, calibrates, cleans and tests the unit. “Your campus and your students rely on the ID and that means your card office must be able to rely on the card printer,” says Degan. “The best way to ensure it is ready when you need it is to keep up with regular, scheduled cleaning and maintenance.”
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Duke adds mobile features to card system iPhone app, off-campus payments take DukeCard to the streets Duke University students have been using mobile devices to check their DukeCard account balances for years, but a newly launched iPhone application simplifies access to the card program’s site and makes it easier to perform a range of functions, says Matthew Drummond, director of the campus card office at Duke.
Drummond says they do not currently plan to add Android or Blackberry support, but students can still access the DukeCard office through the mobile Web site on those devices.
Previously, the DukeCard Office had a mobilefriendly version of its web site that could be viewed on smart phone browsers, but the functionality was limited.
Another new DukeCard feature eases the ordering and payment processes for off-campus food delivery.
Duke saw what Stanford University had done with its iPhone app and decided to do the same, Drummond says. In October 2008 Stanford rolled out its app featuring the university’s course catalog, calendar, real-time animation on the campus map and live scores for Stanford basketball games. A group of Stanford students had developed the application and founded Terriblyclever Design, which was later acquired by Blackboard. Duke worked with Blackboard to create its app, Drummond says. It features a course catalog, directory, calendar, news and videos. There is also a spot for the DukeCard functionality. “We wanted to provide a campus card section of that Duke mobile application,” he says. “Students can login with their university net ID and they can view their balance, view their last seven days of transactions and add funds to their account without ever getting out of line.” Students can also use the map feature to find the nearest dining hall, Drummond says, or they can find the closest print center and see how busy it is or check the status of their print job. It also has an interactive map that provides directions and public transportation routes, Drummond says. The app was recently updated to include information on when a bus would be arriving at a specific stop.
Taking payments with the mobile phone
Previously students would call in food orders where they would be entered into a PC and a four-part receipt generated. Upon delivery the student would sign the receipts – one copy would go to them, one with the driver and another to the school’s finance office, explains Drummond. Each week the restaurant would submit its receipts and they were manually checked against those submitted to the finance office, a time consuming process. The system has been automated so that delivery drivers can electronically confirm payments via a mobile phone, Drummond says. Instead of having to call orders in, students can now email orders. When the driver shows up with the delivery the student enters his ID number and PIN on the mobile device, Drummond says. The entire process is electronic and no paper is needed. Students can also tip with the new system, something they were not able to do in the past. Airport shuttle services are also using the mobile devices so students can use their DukeCard accounts when heading home, Drummond says. The entire transaction, from entering the ID number, PIN and receiving verification, takes 15 to 30 seconds. With this strong foundation of phone-based applications and services already in place, the DukeCard seems to have a very mobile future.
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