HOME Campus Life Mav Express card may turn to debit

Mav Express card may turn to debit

Written by Joey Owens

Monday, 02 February 2004 11:00 PM

Discussion of changing the Mav Express card into an ATM debit card will continue Feb. 10 at the next Student Congress general body meeting. SC President Josh Warren has been collecting information from senators and their constituents about administrators’ proposal for a new way to distribute refunds and financial aid to students. If approved by administrators, students can use their Mav Express cards can be used as debit cards. Kent Pawlak, Mav Express director, said officials considered proposals from banks. According to the banks, the combination of an ID and ATM card would be more cost effective. Warren hopes to introduce the change at summer orientations. The university received a few offers from Bank One and Wells Fargo on the plan. Warren said the university is trying to work with the banks closest to campus. “Students who hate banks have to go to cash checks anyway, but they have to pay for it then. This way, they will still get their money but at a minimal hassle and no additional cost,” he said. Pawlak said the proposed card could be used as a regular debit card towards any purchase with a PIN He said if the proposal goes through, the plan would not affect the Mav Money program. Students would receive and activate their new cards at the Mav Express Office, he added. Students who lose their cards can log on to www.uta.edu/mavexpress/ to cancel it automatically and obtain another one, Pawlak said. “We want the program to work the first time. I’d rather be correct from the start before there are any problems,” he said. Rusty Ward, interim vice president for Business Affairs, said the idea has been around for the past few years, along with the issue of distributing refunds, tuition reimbursement and financial aid to students. “The upgrade of the Mav Express card is being discussed because the process takes longer for the university to send a check than it would to just add it to a bank account,” Ward said. Instead of sending checks in the mail, he said, the university would just load the student’s account with the money owed. He said students could then choose to withdrawal all of the money at once or gradually at their convenience from an ATM. “We want [students] to gain their money free of charge without the hassle of having to come here and pick it up,” Ward said. He said the university may require students to have two cards instead of turning the Mav Express card into a ID and ATM card. Ward said a cost estimate on the proposal will not be made until Ward receives student feedback from SC. If the university decides to go ahead with the plan, administrators may add ATMs on campus for student convenience, Warren said. Views: 110 | E-mail   Be first to comment this article Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com All right reserved

Last Updated ( Monday, 31 August 2009 04:25 PM )

 

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