Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040078
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The university equivalent of a Most card, called the RU Express Card, even moved into the city this semester. Domino's Pizza and Felix Books and Gifts became the first Radford businesses to tap into the bank accounts of 1,600 students who deposited $350,000 back in August and September.
"That's a significant pool of money that any local merchant, whether they're selling food, books, or dress clothes, ought to consider as potential customers," said Norman Lepchitz, owner of Felix, an off-campus textbook seller.
Whether it will grow is up for some debate, as Radford businesses note the hefty start-up charges and apples-and-oranges comparisons between most of their services and those on campus.
"We have not had any student come in and try to use it," said Charlie Whitescarver, general manager at the Norwood Center, with its cafe and gallery-style businesses.
But that may change. The university primarily pushed RU Express among incoming freshmen this year, hoping the phased-in approach finds most students using the card by the time they're seniors. Based on inaugural averages, that means upwards of $2 million will be deposited and ready to be spent in four years - with purchases automatically rejected if a student's account is empty.
"No more bounced checks," observed Patricia O'Reilly of Charleston, W.Va., whose son, junior Tullio O'Reilly, is among the first group of students using the card.
The system was instituted last fall at the same time the city of Radford released a report finding that Radford students spend a total of $38 million on everything from rent to pencils in the city and the New River Valley. Excluding their housing costs, dorm-dwelling students spend close to $6 million in the area.
Acknowledging that rising tuition and other costs mean students are increasingly "tapped out," Radford's vice president for business affairs also said the university sees RU Express as a moneymaker for the school.
"Funds can keep nongeneral fund [fees] from going up," said Charles W. King Jr. "They can be used for campus improvements. We can use them for scholarships."
While an increasing number of colleges and universities offer debit cards, Radford is one of the few that runs the operation itself. Basically, the university was able to retrofit its existing food service computer system to accept the debit card, rather than contract out to a commercial bank.
"We're not big enough for a bank to want to come," said King.
The card's easy to use: Students deposit money in accounts, which are handled by the state treasury. A campus-based computer tracks their expenditures, which cannot include alcohol.
First-semester earnings from the cards were encouraging: $198,247 at the campus bookstore; $113,646 in the campus food courts; and $22,639 in the vending machines, according to King's office.
Before RU Express was launched, on-campus vending machines were refitted to accept the card and menu selections in them were improved. Their use has skyrocketed, said King.
And that food aspect of RU Express seems to be one of its prime benefits to on-campus life. No longer are students compelled to buy specific meal plans, which they may or may not use.
"It gives them flexibility, and doesn't lock a student into the use of his own funds," said Patricia O'Reilly. "With the limited meal plan, you must buy so many meals and eat them or lose the money."
Son Tullio agrees.
"You can choose to eat in the cafeteria, you can choose to eat in the food courts, or you can use the snack machines. It depends on how much time you have."
Do you spend more?
"No. This way, you eat just what you want, and you pay for it," he said.
The campus debit card trend will only grow, predicts King.
"I would say within the next five years, almost every school will have debit cards," he said.
Among those may be Virginia Tech, whose efforts to line up a bank to manage the system have been hampered by whopping state budget cuts, said university bursar Mary Thompson. At the moment, the school is getting started by centralizing the offices that handle the campuswide ID cards. When the system does go on line - and at the moment, it's anyone's guess when it will - area businesses will be included, she said.
And as far as Lepchitz of Felix Books and Gifts is concerned, they should be. The card's getting a slow start among businesses who clamored a year ago to join the network - partially due to the cost of using the system - but that probably will change.
"It hurt us last semester not to be able to accept the card," Lepchitz said, acknowledging that his business is one of a few that directly competes with a campus-based business. "We had a double-digit loss of revenue."
by CNB