By Aletheia Meloncon
By Aletheia Meloncon
Nationwide bank Wells Fargo and the Riverside Community College District have partnered together to offer students and faculty an ID card that will give them access to facilities, games and to open a checking account with an ATM debit card.
“By allowing Wells Fargo to market their banking services on campus, it gives students and faculty the option to have an identification card that can be utilized to gain access to events and buildings and also as a ATM debit card, direct deposit and to obtain cash,” Lorraine Anderson, District Dean of Admissions and Records said.
Wells Fargo will also offer the option of opening a checking account for students and faculty for check cashing purposes.
The ID card, which is planned to roll out in June, would offer the alternative of using the ATM machine, writing checks or carrying cash.
“Many students carrying large amounts of cash on campus to pay for tuition fees and books,” Anderson said.
There will be two ATM machines installed on the Riverside campus to begin and one on the Moreno Valley and Norco campuses when the identification cards become available.
The partnership that gives RCCD a $20,000, five year contract signing bonus will also give a percentage to the district based on how many students and faculty open checking accounts with a minimum royalty payment of $30,000.
These funds will be placed in a separate account and eventually used for students. The term of the agreement is from Feb. 1 through Nov. 30, 2011 and will cost the district nothing.
“The district will make a profit later on down the line if students and faculty open accounts,” Anderson said. “The initial $20,000 is basically for start up cost of software, cameras and the actual identification cards which cost $1.”
There is also a licensing fee to allow the card to be offered on campus.
The card will not be a credit card and ID/ATM debit card strictly.
“A nationwide study shows that many students get into trouble with credit card debt when in college with some eventually dropping out of school because of it. RCCD wants student to stay in school without having to incur more debt,” Interim Riverside President Linda Lacy said.
Some members of the college are already looking forward to these cards.
“The whole partnership should be exciting for students to set up accounts who don’t have transportation or access to establish bank accounts,” Cindy Taylor, coordinator of the Outreach Department said
The Outreach Department is not just looking at current students for these cards.
“Currently on presentations and tours for high school students, the Outreach Program has incorporated the new identification cards as part of their presentation,” Taylor said.
Also, Wells Fargo will have two representatives that will be located in the Outreach Department portables for students and faculty that would like to open a checking account once the identification cards are available.
The Wells Fargo representatives are also hoping to offer financial planning and money management presentations once the identification cards have been implemented on all campuses, according to Anderson.
Lacy said that the idea initially came about when she was approached by Richard Domaealski, Regional Vice President of Southern California Wells Fargo branches.
Domaealski wanted to use RCCD as a test pilot for the identification cards that are being used on many campuses in the United States.
After several presentations to many people, the decision to implement the identification cards was passed by the Board of Trustees.
The planning for this project took nearly a year, according to Lacy.