On-campus venues plan to accept credit cards

Sodexho dining hall and Chick-Fil-A will be accepting credit cards as a payment option by October, in addition to cash, meal plans and CatCash on the Bobcat Cards.

Using credit cards at Sodexho and Chick-Fil-A will make it easier for commuters and students who don’t want to buy a block meal plan to utilize university dining areas.

Neal Seigler, the general manager of Sodexho, confirmed that the addition of credit card services would take place in mid-to-late September.

Marielle Espinol, a junior marketing major, opted not to have a meal plan this semester.

“I didn’t want to pay so much money for a meal plan where I would be wasting money if I didn’t use all of the meals. I wanted to have the ability to pay as I go. It will definitely be much easier to do that if I can use a credit card,” Espinol said.

However, some students have another opinion on the new plan. Sophomore Aaron Ferrell is concerned that by making Sodexho and Chick-Fil-A available to a wider population of people with the use of credit cards, the already crowded dining areas will be more difficult to eat in because of even longer lines.

“Sometimes the lines in the dining hall are just ridiculous, stretching all the way out into the seating area. Lots of people try to pick up something quick at Chick-Fil-A with 15 minutes between or before classes, and end up spending all the time they have waiting in line,” Ferrell said.

“As for the credit card idea, GC&SU should really start thinking about ways to alleviate these problems, before they give them the chance to potentially become worse,” Ferrell said.

Other concerns with the new plan include the impact that the addition of credit cards will have on the way students make their on-campus monetary transactions. Some students wonder if the use of credit cards will cause the CatCash system to become obsolete, like the print cards.

“I would think that if the option to use credit cards was available, then the whole depositing and withdrawing with a CatCash account would just be a hassle,” Ferrell said.

Whether the new system proves to be beneficial or simply more trouble than it’s worth, the new credit system will be in effect later this month at Sodexho and Chick-Fil-A. It has not yet been determined if the system will be extended to other campus dining locations, such as Einstein Bros. Bagels and Books & Brew.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 9 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry