A call to Identification and Data Services will render the missing card unusable and a new card will be issued. According to HUD, the account information will be transferred to the new card in about five minutes.

Mayer adds, even if the card is used, a student will not be held responsible for charges made after they have reported the lost card.

So why doesn't the ID office maintain the Crimson Cash program?

"We have interface with the students, and that's key," Mayer says. "We are able to see how it's working and can respond to issues."

He adds, "We're not necessarily more customer-focused [than ID Services]. It's just that our customers are the students, unlike the administration."

To Use or Not to Use

Leslie S. Yeh '00 says she doesn't currently use Crimson Cash.

"I don't need it for laundry because I guess I have enough quarters," she says.

"If there were a price difference for photocopies if you used Crimson Cash, maybe I'd use it, but there's only really a difference now in the cost of print-outs and copies some places," she adds.

Mayer says HUDS and the Crimson Cash program have nothing to do any price disparity.

"The libraries set their own prices," he says. "We just provide an easier way to pay for those services, whatever the price."

Students like Campos say the lower price for things like copies is incentive to use Crimson Cash.

"It's cheaper as well as easier, so I use it," he says.

A Laundry Room Near You

There are currently more than 200 vending machines and 60 laundry rooms equipped with card readers, according to the Crimson Cash Web site maintained by HUDS.