Spring Break
WhoCash can be purchased online
by Miranda Neubauer
Senior Writer
News | 4/29/08
Posted online at 3:16 AM EST on 4/29/08
The new software was registering the numerical amount a user wanted to add online to his WhoCash account, but the actual transactions were not yet going through, she explained.
Brandeis community members can currently log in to the system using their UNET username on the campus card Web page. Users can view their current balance and their entire transaction history. Users also have the option to report a lost card 24 hours a day, which, Livermore explained, disables the card's swipe access.
In addition to the option of adding money from a personal credit card, an "Invite to Deposit" option also exists. Livermore explained that the link generates a special private link a students can send to other individuals, enabling them to add money to the account as well, without giving their username or password. Livermore told the Justice in previous interviews that this functionality enables parents to deposit money in student bank accounts.
A charge of $1 is deducted when a user adds WhoCash online. Livermore said each company that handles the money "exacts a small fee" that adds up to about a dollar. The University will receive bills from those companies and will pay them using the collected fees, she said.
Livermore warned that students who had never used WhoCash before could have problems using the online option immediately. In that case, she said, students should e-mail the Campus Card Office with their full name requesting the opening of an account. Over the summer, Livermore said, LTS has plans to take a full list of students who have never used WhoCash before to ensure that each has an empty WhoCash account.
In concert with the launch of the online system, the hardware repair shop in Feldberg now accepts WhoCash in addition to cash or checks as a payment system, she added.
Some students interviewed were enthusiastic about the new option.
"That would be great, I always really wished I could do that," Graham Miller '09 said earlier this semester, when asked about the possibility of WhoCash online. "You always have to come down here [Kutz] and bring cash. It's a little annoying."
"I'm glad it was a situation in which a good idea was able to come to fruition, and the interests of the students and of the University were aligned to bring Whocash online," said Union President Jason Gray, who advocated for the change. "I put on $10 yesterday," he said, "I think it works well."
Brandeis community members can currently log in to the system using their UNET username on the campus card Web page. Users can view their current balance and their entire transaction history. Users also have the option to report a lost card 24 hours a day, which, Livermore explained, disables the card's swipe access.
In addition to the option of adding money from a personal credit card, an "Invite to Deposit" option also exists. Livermore explained that the link generates a special private link a students can send to other individuals, enabling them to add money to the account as well, without giving their username or password. Livermore told the Justice in previous interviews that this functionality enables parents to deposit money in student bank accounts.
A charge of $1 is deducted when a user adds WhoCash online. Livermore said each company that handles the money "exacts a small fee" that adds up to about a dollar. The University will receive bills from those companies and will pay them using the collected fees, she said.
Livermore warned that students who had never used WhoCash before could have problems using the online option immediately. In that case, she said, students should e-mail the Campus Card Office with their full name requesting the opening of an account. Over the summer, Livermore said, LTS has plans to take a full list of students who have never used WhoCash before to ensure that each has an empty WhoCash account.
In concert with the launch of the online system, the hardware repair shop in Feldberg now accepts WhoCash in addition to cash or checks as a payment system, she added.
Some students interviewed were enthusiastic about the new option.
"That would be great, I always really wished I could do that," Graham Miller '09 said earlier this semester, when asked about the possibility of WhoCash online. "You always have to come down here [Kutz] and bring cash. It's a little annoying."
"I'm glad it was a situation in which a good idea was able to come to fruition, and the interests of the students and of the University were aligned to bring Whocash online," said Union President Jason Gray, who advocated for the change. "I put on $10 yesterday," he said, "I think it works well."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Dani B.
posted 4/29/08 @ 10:52 AM EST
I was pretty sure that the credit card companies have a strict policy about not allowing merchants to charge a fee to someone for using a credit card over other payment methods. (Continued…)
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