Paying for meals in The Village may soon be as easy as swiping a Ball State ID.
On July 1, Ball State began contacting eligible merchants in The Village, inviting them to participate in the Ball State University Village Merchant Cardinal Cash Pilot Program.
This program expands the use of Cardinal Cash, an account Ball State students and faculty can deposit money into and access with their Ball State ID, into The Village.
While allowing the use of Cardinal Cash in The Village is part of President Geoffrey Mearns’ Better Together initiative, Bernard Hannon, vice president for business affairs and treasurer, said student groups, the university senate, the mayor’s office and local merchants have also requested the opportunity.
“Probably half of the colleges in the country to my understanding have some sort of arrangement with local merchants for this,” Hannon said. “So as a pilot program, we wanted to start in The Village — and not broader — and see how it goes and we want to limit it initially to merchants that sell primarily food and beverage.”
Now that Ball State has contacted vendors, Hannon said it is up to the businesses to take the next steps.
“It could start tomorrow if it was all ready, but it will take a little while,” Hannon said. “Hopefully we’ll have some merchants up and running by the time the fall semester starts, but that’s entirely up to the merchants.”
Before officially accepting Cardinal Cash, interested businesses must first work with CBORD, a company Ball State hired to handle ID transactions. The partnership includes an initial cost of $250, which goes toward necessary equipment and setup.
After arrangements have been made, businesses will be charged an ongoing service fee of $30 per month. Transaction fees would also be charged to each purchase as if a credit or debit card were being used, however, there would be no charge to the university or Cardinal Cash users, Hannon said.
Cardinal Cash can already be used at several locations including all Ball State dining locations, in the bookstore in the Art and Journalism Building, the Technology Store in Bracken Library, all Emens events, sporting events in Scheumann Stadium and Worthen Arena, the pharmacy in the Health Center and in laundry facilities.
So far, Julie Hopwood, associate vice president for business and auxiliary services, said three businesses outside of Ball State have inquired about the program. While the university did not specify which businesses have indicated interest, Hannon said, “once the vendors are approved, there’s no restriction on what the vendor sells.”
Eventually, the university hopes to expand this opportunity into downtown Muncie, but Hannon said it depends on whether or not the pilot program is successful.
“The goals of this are to try and engage students and employees in The Village, so we’ll find out is that actually happening,” Hannon said. “Second, are the transactions working appropriately, are they safe, are they secure and are we having merchants participate? So, if all those things happen, we would call it a successful pilot.”
Contact Brooke Kemp with comments at bmkemp@bsu.edu or on Twitter @brookemkemp.
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