In the last 12 months, campuses have become more automated and more schools throughout the country are adopting initiatives that provide increased service to students. At Higher One, we are working with business officers who realize that offering students easier access to financial services through more capable cards provides more efficient services at a lower cost.
Students now expect more from their campus cards. Not only do students want the ability to access their funds, get into campus buildings, and show identification with their cards, they want the same cards to come with a degree of financial education. Students are aware that they need to know how to better manage their finances when there are ever-increasing demands on their money.
Schools are responding to these student demands. And we’ve seen them respond not just due to pressure, but because school administrators recognize a responsibility to add financial education to the rest of the overall life education that schools provide. Newer technologies in student financial services are creating the perfect opportunity for schools to develop financial management programs. Many schools are packaging their campus cards with on-campus classes, online curriculums and a range of educational materials for students to learn more about managing their money.
Higher One has been working closely with school administrators to help meet this demand and we’ve made our own changes in order to prepare for what we see as a fast-growing trend within the higher education community. Our commitment to offering transparency to students about our products and how Higher One works with schools has never been stronger. We continue to refine how we present account information to students so that we can increase program knowledge. We’ve also responded to student demand for information by increasing the financial management content we provide in our online and printed materials that accompanies each Higher One card sent to students.
Additionally, schools are seeking ways to offer engaging and effective financial management services under tight budget conditions. More and more programs are moving out of brick-and-mortar bank branches to online services. At Higher One, we are working with business officers who realize that offering students easier, and online, access to funds through more capable cards provides more efficient services at a lower cost, eliminating the expense of branch service in the program while giving students the programs they need.
We expect that 2010 will see a flood of new and creative attempts by schools to offer financial literacy in conjunction with campus cards. We know that campus card technology will continue to improve, and we are working to ensure that the support for students will improve at the same fast pace, while becoming more efficient.
About the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel
At the close of each year, AVISIAN Publishing’s editorial team selects a group of key leaders from various sectors of the ID technology market to serve as Expert Panelists. Each individual is asked to share their unique insight into what lies ahead. During the month of December, these panelist’s predictions are published daily at the appropriate title within the AVISIAN suite of ID technology publications: SecureIDNews.com, ContactlessNews.com,CR80News.com, RFIDNews.org, FIPS201.com, NFCNews.com, ThirdFactor.com, and DigitalIDNews.com. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/cr80news-4.gif)
