The Board of Regents approved a partnership between the University of Wisconsin and UW Credit Union that will now give students the option to use their WisCards as debit cards.

“One card is really all students are going to need to carry, whether they are on campus or off campus with this new program,” said Jim Wysocky, Wiscard program manager.

The university will receive $286,000 a year over the initial 7-year term to support the debit card option in addition to the monthly rent payments for 18 new surcharge-free ATMs on campus and $1.75 million in support of the new Union South, where a full service UW Credit Union branch will be constructed by 2011.

Unlike many other bank and university contracts of this nature, the deal does not tie financial rewards to participation rates.

“There’s no link between enrollment in the program and financial incentives,” said Marc Kennedy, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Union.

According to Wysocky, there has been litigation over the years where some campuses have pushed students toward a particular bank when that bank may not have had the most competitive rates.

Wysocky said this is why the committee of students, faculty and staff that reviewed the proposal deemed it essential to maintain some distance between the university and the banking institution.

Though it has not been decided where exactly the money will go, Wysocky said the intent is for it to go to student programming like scholarships.

The deal is really a win-win, according to Wysocky, as it brings in additional revenue at a time when budgets are getting tighter and tighter at the university and at the same time provides students with a valuable and convenient service they have been requesting for some time.

“There’s no doubt that this partnership brings additional revenues to the campus, but it also brings along with that these additional services the conveniences for the students (and) the protections of just being able to carry one card,” Wysocky said.

Beating out several other banks that were also competing for the contract, Wysocky explained the UW Credit Union was a perfect fit for the marriage as there is evidence of a pre-existing partnership with the university.

“They have been very good about this partnership, and they are very on board with all of the stipulations of the agreement,” Wysocky said. “They’ve had a long relationship with the campus in many ways, and they are very understanding of our campus environment and our desires here.”

Started by UW faculty members, the UW Credit Union has been a strong advocate for promoting the proper use of credit, putting on seminars for students in the past and making financial education part of their mission, according to Kennedy.

“The Credit Union has been doing some educational program already and the hope or expectation is that they are going to continue to do that and actually enhance the offerings that they make available,” Wysocky said.