Last week, the University of Wisconsin Credit Union and our esteemed university formed a partnership that will allow our Wiscards to double as debit cards. Finally. For too long, college students have struggled with this notion of “I like money, but I wish it were easier to spend,” and now, thanks to this historic marriage of interests, we can rest easy knowing our student IDs go to a greater use that once-a-month library and SERF visits. Yes children, now instead of using your parents’ money to buy pizza from Ed’s, you can use it wherever Visa is accepted.
At first glance, this isn’t too big a story. Most universities are already engaged in similar partnerships, and to its credit, this deal offers no incentive clause for UW-Madison. The university will receive a flat sum of money every year for seven years, no matter how many students choose UWCU as their personal bank. In addition, UWCU will establish a branch in the new Union South and assist in the funding of the project. In all, the partnership should raise more than $6 million dollars for the university. Although that’s not an incredibly large number for a state’s flagship school, it’s not like UW has an overabundance of money to spend in the first place.
But beyond the additional revenue this will generate, it’s hard to see why this is a smart move. In UWCU’s press release announcing the agreement, they propose “the simplicity and convenience of a single, multi-purpose card” and the “increased security of a cashless environment” as great reasons to crossbreed our IDs with their check cards. But it never works that way. Combining dinosaur blood and frog DNA backfired in Jurassic Park, and mixing grunge with hair-metal didn’t do much for Velvet Revolver. If there is one place on Earth where segregation is needed, it’s probably wherever people attempt to integrate money with pieces of identification.
A cashless environment is not necessarily a more secure one. Is it easy to lose a $20 bill? Yes, especially at a video poker machine. But it’s just as easy to lose a check card, and the difference is, when you misplace $20, you can’t be out any more than that; when you lose your debit card, somebody might be buying iPods for his extended family. Identity theft is a product of this cashless environment, and if students are using their Wiscards as a go-to payment tool, they’re more likely to be victimized than if they were using cash or relying on campus food.
Even more, the “convenience of a single, multipurpose card” quickly becomes extremely inconvenient once that card is lost. During the school year, you can walk into the Wiscard office on any day and see four people waiting in line to replace their lost IDs. These are small, flimsy pieces of plastic that often get left on gym floors, study tables and sidewalks. The last thing they need is a checking account attached to their bar codes. A cell phone that unlocked your car would be pretty nice, but in two weeks you’d be completely immobile and unable to text your pain to anyone.
When it comes to something like money, which college students need greatly and rarely have enough of, convenience shouldn’t be the issue. If anything, people should be making it harder for us to spend. It’s because of all those 2 a.m. Ian’s Pizza runs that we can’t afford to take summer classes, and it’s difficult to learn responsible spending techniques when everything in your wallet is whispering at you pay with them.
If the university wants to do this, that’s fine; but don’t ever try to pass it off as anything more than a new stream of revenue. While it’s bound to help their budget, it’ll do just the opposite for at least a few students.
Sean Kittridge ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.
