The popularity of Lancer CA$H among students, parents, faculty and staff has increased significantly during the past year. The total amount of money these individuals deposited into Lancer CA$H accounts this year was $10,000 greater than the amount deposited in fall 2012, according to LancerCard Manager Crissy Sampier’s report included in the Sept. 13- 14 Board of Visitors meeting materials.
Lancer CA$H is money students add to their LancerCards for spending at various on and off-campus locations. Sampier said the system is “safer and way more convenient” for students than carrying cash.
When Sampier started the program at Longwood University in 2010, students and parents deposited $195,000 total into LancerCards, or student IDs. Last year, the overall deposits amounted to $434,000.
Sampier believes Lancer CA$H’s growing recognition is most likely due to increased marketing and student familiarity as well as the addition of on and off-campus merchants’ participation in the program.
Lancer CA$H, Sampier explained, is different from Bonus Dollars because card users can spend Lancer CA$H at a variety of locations; Bonus Dollars can be used exclusively at Longwood Dining locations. While Bonus Dollars only roll over from the fall semester to the spring semester, Lancer CA$H remains on LancerCards until students graduate or faculty/ staff leave the university. Those interested in refunding their money upon their departure can do so for a fee.
Sampier noted Lancer CA$H can be especially convenient if “a student runs out of money or they find themselves in a situation and they don’t have any cash or any other way to pay” because the students’ parent(s) “can go online and add money right away.”
According to the LancerCard website, on-campus Lancer CA$H locations include Campus Dining Services, Starbucks Café at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, the Registrar's Office, the Center for Communication Studies and Theatre Box Office, Janet D. Greenwood Library, Longwood Post Office, Longwood Printing
Services, Coke and snack vending machines, washers and dryers, Longwood Golf Course, Campus Recreation Center, Student Health & Wellness Center and computer lab printers in buildings around campus.
Off-campus locations that recognize Lancer CA$H are Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits, Buffalo Wild Wings, Burger King, CVS Pharmacy, Domino's Pizza, Main Street Bagels, McDonald's, Papa John's, Pino's Pizza & Italian Restaurant, Sheetz and Sweet Frog.
Subway, located at both Longwood Landings and The Shops at Walmart, will soon be among these locations.
Sampier said students have asked the LancerCard Center for Lancer CA$H recognition at Subway since the program’s start. She said the local branch is “under new management now, and they are very excited to be accepting Lancer CA$H.”
As for future Lancer CA$H sites, Sampier said she has reached out to Food Lion and is waiting for a response.
She would also like to see a hair salon and Main Street Lanes accept the currency in the future. She hopes that the university’s Office of Parking Services will also soon recognize Lancer CA$H as currency.
“It’s up to the merchant to decide to participate in the program or not, so all we can do is reach out to them and try to work with them and show that it’s a positive thing for both the merchant and the student,” Sampier said.
Students, faculty and staff can deposit money into their Lancer CA$H accounts online, at the LancerCard Center in room G22 of Lancaster Hall and at the two Add- Value Stations located on the lower levels of Lankford Student Union and Greenwood Library.
The Add-Value Stations are expensive, according to Sampier, and there are no plans to add another location in the near future. She said she would like to see how successful the current centralized locations are before adding new stations.
Buffalo Wild Wings is one of several locations that accepts Lancer CA$H.
