The National University of Singapore laid out plans to make its campus entirely cashless, but following student backlash and petitioning university officials have now scaled back the cashless plans.

In a continually expanding campus market, students, faculty and staff expect payment acceptance and a consistent customer experience across all points of interaction. With today’s omni-channel technologies, universities and their supporting communities can deliver this experience while monetizing their payment ecosystems for greater revenues.

Florida International University is offering its students a new way to pay for library late fees and fines, while simultaneously helping the campus community and those in need. The university’s libraries are working with the FIU Student Food Pantry to enable students to pay down fines by providing food donations.

Students at UC San Diego will soon be able to use their campus cards and TritonCash to pay for a number of essential health items from a campus “Wellness Vending Machine.” UCSD’s University Centers Advisory Board (UCAB) has also approved the new vending machine for sale of generic Plan B pills.

A number of college students across the country have reportedly been lured into a credit card scheme that preys on their willingness to help fellow students in need. According to the Better Business Bureau, numerous universities have reported losing thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases made with stolen credit card information at campus bookstores.

A convenience store on the campus of London’s Brunel University is now the the first retailer in the country to leverage finger vein biometrics for payments, after a new initiative has been launched to enable students to make purchases with the touch of a finger.

Payment and secure mobile communications provider Apriva, has partnered with vending solutions provider Parlevel Systems to complete the integration of the Parlevel Micro Market solution to the Apriva payment gateway platform. The integration is set to provide secure cashless payments to Apriva resellers and self-service operators, while expanding cashless payment options to end users including college campuses with the inclusion of campus card support.

Johnson C. Smith University is looking into a potential rash of fraudulent purchases made using the campus card and student flex dollars. Flex dollars are used to make food purchases on campus and university officials suspect that both students and employees of food-service operator, Perkins Management Services, are involved.

While laundry isn’t typically seen as a life-saving service, it does – like any superhero – have an origin story. Campus card industry consultant, Robert Huber, has seen campus laundry evolve to reflect changing college life.

Laundry isn’t just one of the oldest student services but one of the earliest supported by the campus card. But as with everything else on campus, laundry services are subject to the changing tides of technology and evolving service models. Institutions are navigating how to best price laundry services and deploy new technologies like mobile apps. They are even reevaluating the future of the campus card in laundry facilities.