Freshman Ethan Shapiro, junior Brody Hender and sophomore Caitlin Price, decided to pitch to their Entrepreneurship class the idea of turning Phoenix Cards digital. The cards would be held in the digital wallet of phones but would retain their functionality. While the project is only for class, the group hopes to pitch the idea to Elon University and possibly digitalize Phoenix Cards.
Shapiro said he and his group got the idea from the concept of digital credit cards and would function in the same manner. Phoenix Cards allow students access to phoenix cash, meal plans, dorms and other services. Making them digital would not change how they work, only make them more convenient, Shapiro said.
“It’ll work by replacing your physical Phoenix Card, and will have the same functionality,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro claims the digital version will allow students to keep track of their Phoenix Cards easier and create less problems if they lose their physical ones. He said students would no longer have to recall whether or not they brought their cards with them, nor would they have to call a friend to let them back into the dorms at night, Shapiro said. Instead, all they have to do is bring their phones.
“Personally, I’m a very techy guy, and I feel having a digital card on your phone makes life easier for you,” Shapiro said.
Digitizing Phoenix Cards will also help improve security at Elon, Hender said. He has heard stories of students using lost Phoenix Cards for themselves rather than returning them.
“I’ve heard of people finding Phoenix Cards on the ground and using them to get food,” Hender said. “I think that’s a security problem, but I don’t think that would happen with digital cards.”
However, if a student’s phone runs out of battery, students would be unable to access their digital card and enter their dorms. However, Hender said their solution to this problem would be to add charging stations outside of each dorm entrance to ensure this issue does not occur.
“It would cost a bit of extra money, but not too much to add a couple chargers to each dorm building to ensure it doesn’t happen,” Hender said. “Iphones and Androids charge up pretty fast, so I don’t think that’d be too big of an issue.”
At the moment, other universities such as Purdue University, Xavier University, University of Alabama and more currently use Transact Campus Company’s digital ID cards. Hender said if Elon accepts their pitch, the university will be among that number. They had already discussed the possibility of transitioning to digital Phoenix Cards with Phoenix Card Services.
According to Hender, Phoenix Card Services said they liked the idea, but in order for digital Phoenix Cards to be authorized, it has to be approved by Information Technology. The idea of digital Phoenix Cards are brought up with Information Technology every month, but the idea is always turned down and swept under the rug due to lack of funding, Hender said.
“It’s a futuristic idea, but I don’t think they have the money for it right now,” Hender said.
Despite the financial setback, the group believes that they can rectify the issue with enough student support. They believe that if they are able to raise enough money, the University would be willing to make the transition to digital Phoenix Cards.
“This is a newer thing that a lot of colleges are doing,” Hender said. “So we need to get student support to raise money for the school to make this happen.”