Supported by CardSmith LLC, Los Angeles-based college-preparatory Windward School this week launched a multifunction school-identification card, the campus card service provider announced on Nov. 1.
Windward, which hopes to improve security by reducing the need for students to bring cash to school, is CardSmith’s ninth U.S. high school customer and the third in the Los Angeles area, a spokesperson the Doylestown, Pa.-based company tells PaymentsSource. A Windward representative was unavailable to comment on its new campus card program by PaymentsSource deadline.
The Windward OneCard, which is free for students and staff, includes a prepaid spending account cardholders may tap into to make purchases at the student store, all school food-service locations and school events, according to CardSmith. Windward employees a staff of 75, and the average graduating class is 17 students.
Students, parents and staff members may access and add funds to the prepaid accounts from CardSmith’s online account center, where they also may view transaction activity and allocate automatic funds allowances, CardSmith said.
Before the card launch, the school deployed touch-screen point-of-sale terminals in all dining locations, and students and staff could pay with cash only.
Additionally, places hosting school events now have the option to use wired or wireless Internet protocol terminals, according to CardSmith. CardSmith did not specify which brand of terminals the school is using.
Offering multifunction campus card programs to high schools is another opportunity for “prepaid processors and banks to reach out to other consumers who will benefit from a program like this,” Adil Moussa, an analyst for Boston-based Aite Group LLC, tells PaymentsSource.
Moreover, high schools need campus card programs similar to Windward’s because “most students need money each morning for school lunches and various school-related events,” Moussa says. Plus, the prepaid component also “can teach students money managing and budgeting,” he adds.
Additionally, many high schools and even elementary and middle schools may be interested in campus card programs for security reasons, Robert Huber, a campus card business consultant with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Robert Huber Associates, tells PaymentsSource.
“An identification card with specific building and door access (features) prevents unwanted visitors from entering the schools,” Huber says. It also enables students to become used to carrying identification cards with them, he adds.
Not many high schools may have card programs, but once other schools see the benefits “the flood gates will open” and more will begin developing programs, Moussa contends.
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