Campus cards with debit functionality are catching on among universities, according to this article in Nebraska’s Lexington Clipper-Herald, which calls the card “a must-have accessory.”
About 2,000 U.S. campuses now issue such cards, which can be used to purchase books, items from vending machines and almost anything else with a price tag.
However, the MavCard issued by the University of Nebraska at Omaha is not a true debit card because students there did not request that a banking relationship be added to the card, said a university spokesperson. Instead, money is placed in an account at the university’s MavCard Services Office.
The card went off campus for the first time last fall. Ten stores now accept the card.
Meanwhile, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, students, faculty and staff can link their card to a Wells Fargo Bank checking account to make purchases on and off campus. The card also can work as an ATM card.
Read more here.