Iowa State students will soon be able to buy snacks from vending machines, use copy machines, use washers and dryers in the residence halls and receive financial aid refunds all through the use of their student identification card.

University Treasurer Joan Thompson chaired a committee comprised of Iowa State students, faculty and administrators which began working on the idea of a debit card system three years ago. Thompson said they hope to have the system implemented by next spring or summer.

The system will allow students to deposit money into their accounts and then use it in various ways. When students are finished using their card, the machine will tell them how much money remains in their accounts.

The system is designed to offer more opportunities to students and will not take away any of the identification cards’ current uses, Thompson said.

Thompson said students will not be able to run up debts on the cards because they will not be allowed to use the card as a charge card.

“The card will actually provide more control over student spending habits because they will only be allowed to spend what is in their accounts,” Thompson said.

Although students will not use the card as a charge card, the University Book Store will continue to let students charge books.

“The bookstore policy is a little different because it was designed to be a bridge for students who haven’t received their financial aid yet and need to get their books bought right away,” she said.

Thompson said the machines have been purchased to produce the new cards and the current students attending freshmen orientation are having their pictures taken by the new machines. The pictures are digitized so that they can be reproduced easily by the machine but cannot be removed from the identification card.

Thompson said all students will have to get new cards before the system can be implemented.

The university will award the card accounts bid this summer. The committee is also waiting for results from a study on the security concerns involved with the cards.

In addition to being able to use the cards on campus, students will be able to make purchases from local merchants off campus. Thompson said 16 businesses have expressed interest in the program.

Chamber of Commerce representative Mark Snell said the Chamber accomplished its goal of facilitating discussions between the university and Ames’ businesses.

“We are very supportive of the university’s efforts to structure this debit card system so it benefits the students as well as the Ames business community,” Snell said. “We offered our office so the university committee and business owners could get together and we felt that both sides learned from each other.”

Snell said several of the business owners will continue to serve on an advisory committee until the debit card system is finalized.

“The merchants who attended our meetings were very enthusiastic about the program. Most of them agreed to advertise in their stores or windows that they accept the card and provide some incentives for students to do business with the merchants who accept the cards,” Thompson said.

Thompson said there are unlimited uses for the card, including taking class attendance, granting access to athletic games, verifying a student’s status at the recreation center and acting as a voter card for Government of the Student Body elections. However, GSB President Dan Mangan said no definite proposal has been made for using the card in elections.

“The card is really the key to a whole array of possibilities and the committee will continue to consider proposals for different applications of the debit card,” Thompson said.

Thompson said any ideas for the new debit card can be directed to the university’s treasurer’s office.