As an example of initial expenses, Mayer cites the nine VTS machines around campus, which cost "several thousands of dollars each."

"However, the most popular way to deposit money is over the phone," he says, "and now that we've put VTS on the Web, we think that the online station will become the most popular."

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 says the response to Crimson Cash at the last meeting of the Committee on House Life was positive.

"Students seemed to be very supportive of the program," he says.

He says students' main concern appeared to be the "inconvenience of transferring funds into their Crimson Cash accounts."

"That problem seems to have been taken care of now," he adds.

Convenience Store

Cross explains the initial success of the Crimson Cash program seems to stem from the combination of ease and personal security the program offers.

"Apart from the convenience angle, there's the safety factor," he says. "People don't have to carry cash around with them." Nevertheless, some students say they are skeptical about putting large sums of money on their ID cards, which have a notorious tendency to get misplaced. "I haven't used Crimson Cash for books because it seems risky," says Patricia S. Cho '99.

Others say they don't see the logic behind paying for textbooks with Crimson Cash. "Why would you want to put so much money on your ID card when you can pay for your books other ways?" says Thomas M. Coyne '02.

"That's what credit cards are for," echoes Luis A. Campos '99.

But Cross is quick to point out that financial information is not actually stored on the card itself. Records of money deposited at any VTS-online or otherwise-goes into a computer database.

The magnetic stripe on the card simply allows the system to gain access to the related account.

Mayer clarifies, "It's not one of those debit cards where the actual value of the card goes down each time you use it."

Since cash deposited into a student's Crimson Cash account does not get stored directly on the card, even if a card is lost or stolen, it's not a cause for panic.