Client Success Story - University of North Alabama

Working for the Students

The University of North Alabama (UNA) began looking into a campus debit card system in response to strong student interest. Many UNA students are from outside the local area, and many are from other states or countries. Often these students do not have local bank accounts. That made it difficult or costly for these students to get cash. Even for the local students, bank access on weekends and holidays was often a problem. Now, with the UNA Mane card, students can use services on campus and in the community without having to use cash or pay expensive ATM fees.

The Mane Card is named after UNA's mascot, the Lion. With CBORD's Odyssey PCS™ software, students can make deposits to their Mane Card account, and then use the card for purchases around campus. In addition to the meal plan, the card is used for access to residence halls, the library, the recreation center, elevators, printing, copying, vending, and laundry.

The Mane Card has made a variety of activities more convenient for UNA students. "Before the card, students would have to remember to bring change to make copies or get snacks," explains Karen Kennedy, Manager of the Debit Card Program at UNA. "If they didn't have change, they'd either have to use the change machines, which didn't always work, or they'd go to the bookstore to get change. It was a very inconvenient process for both the students and the bookstore employees." Now, students can put money in their Mane Card account and use it to make such purchases.

"The students love the debit card program," Kennedy explains happily. "Each year more and more students use it. I had one student come to the card window recently and say, 'This makes my life so much easier!' He didn't realize that cashless cards were available until he came to campus, and now he can't live without his!"

Expanding to the Local Community

UNA's Mane Card makes it easier for students to take advantage of off-campus services as well. The card can be used at 11 off-campus locations, including 3 pizza restaurants, an American-style burger restaurant, Subway®, Krispy Kreme®, a gas station, and a hair and nail salon.

Are students that have the Mane Card more likely to go to these locations? "Definitely," says Kennedy. "The vendor at the gas station has been amazed."

Depending on Reliable Support

With such an extensive card program, many issues can arise that need the attention of Technical Support. "It's been a lifesaver to have the CBORD support," says Kennedy. When she began at UNA, the temporary employees that had been trained in using the CBORD system had left, so Kennedy could not learn from them. "I went to a beginning course at CBORD that was wonderful," she says, "I would recommend that to anyone." Even after training, Kennedy has maintained a strong relationship with CBORD's Technical Support. "I'm also looking forward to attending CBORD's User Group Conference," she adds.

CBORD also steps forward when vendor issues arise at UNA. "CBORD helped us work with our vendors for our washing machines," says Kennedy. "The vendors didn't know how to program the washers for the Mane Cards, so CBORD employees walked them through the programming process. It's great to finally have our washers up and running." Through its valuable partnership with CBORD, UNA brings reliability and convenience to its number one priority, the students.

CBORD is a registered trademark, and Odyssey PCS is a trademark, of The CBORD Group, Inc. Subway is a registered trademark of Doctor's Associates, Inc., and Krispy Kreme is a registered trademark of HDN Corporation.