Bids accepted from restaurants, convenience stores
After years of waiting, students will soon be able to use their CarolinaCards off campus, but not all local businesses are on board.
The university plans to pilot the long-anticipated program starting in early November, Student Body President Chase Mizzell said.
Over the summer, it took bids from nine businesses, though not all will necessarily be accepted: Bi-Lo, CVS, Domino’s, Harper’s, Marble Slab Creamery, Palmetto Pig, Papa John’s, Salsarita’s and Tripp’s Fine Cleaners.
It eventually wants to add delivery, coffee shops, taxis and “recreational and entertainment locations,” according to its request for bids. Alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs won’t be allowed under the plan.
Mizzell said that once the program is underway and running smoothly, the university will likely take bids again.
Opening students’ Carolina Cash to businesses off campus has long been a campaign plank among Student Government candidates, but the effort, now at least five years old, had failed to materialize before now.
Taking the cards off campus could prove lucrative for nearby businesses; in fiscal year 2012, students and faculty loaded $9.14 million onto their CarolinaCards.
It could also be a boon for the university. Other campuses have seen about a quarter of deposits go off campus, Mizzell said, though officials expect this program will see a lower rate.
And USC will take a commission, along with a flat transaction fee. Under USC’s plan, full-service restaurants would pay at least a 12-percent commission on CarolinaCard sales, other restaurants would pay at least 8 percent, dry cleaners and laundromats 5 percent and most other businesses 4 percent.
Vendors would also pay 30 cents each time they swipe a card to cover a processing fee, and they could need a $150 card reader.
They wouldn’t be allowed to charge a CarolinaCard surcharge, the proposal says.
Helen Zeigler, associate vice president for business affairs, said in an email that USC based its rates on rates in other universities’ programs and on feedback from business owners.
But some businesses aren’t on board, saying the fees USC has proposed are too high.
Shafen Kahn, owner of Yoghut, said that while most of his customers are students, adding the option didn’t make sense financially. Most of his sales are $4 to $6, so he said a 30-cent transaction fee was too much.
Marcia Contos, who owns an Uncle Maddio’s franchise on Main Street, called the fees “prohibitive,” saying they were far higher than credit card transaction fees. Contos also said state rules required three years of financial statements, keeping new businesses like hers out of the running.
How the program will affect Carolina Dining is not yet clear, but Fred Wencel, its general manager, said it could impact USC’s on-campus late-night options, which feed on Carolina Cash sales hours after students have used their dinner meal swipe.
If late-night sales erode, Wencel said Carolina Dining would likely have to re-evaluate its hours.
“I think it’s going to affect us, but I don’t know how much,” Wencel said.