“It’s a learning thing as well; this just started last year,” Cross says. “You’ll see participation slowly rise as it becomes an expected part of what’s available around campus.”

The program began last July after more than a year of lobbying from Undergraduate Council members, including several presidential and vice-presidential candidates who made the initiative part of their campaign platforms.

Shira S. Simon ’04, a former council member and vice-presidential candidate, says she pushed for the program because of its convenience.

“When students go out on a Friday or Saturday night they don’t have that much cash on them, but they need to have their cards to get into buildings,” she says.

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When a student pays for a slice of pizza with Crimson Cash, though, the vendor does not see as much money as it would if the student had paid with cash. In fact, HUDS currently collects between 5 and 8 percent of every off-campus Crimson Cash transaction, in addition to other start-up fees.

Some popular eateries around the Square say this commission is too much for certain businesses to squeeze under their profit margins, and that they have not been able to accept Crimson Cash because of its cost.

Felipe Herrera, co-owner of Felipe’s Taqueria in the Garage on Mt. Auburn Street, says that he thinks it is unlikely that he will accept HUDS’ offer to extend the Crimson Cash program to his restaurant. Herrera says the 7 percent fee he would have to pay HUDS is too much for him to stomach.

“We’d have to raise our prices,” Herrera says. “A lot of people come with the Crimson card and it’s hard to tell them we don’t accept it, but on the other hand it’s not worth 7 percent.”

Gurcheran Gill, the manager of Tommy’s Pizza on Mt. Auburn St., says that he also finds the program to be prohibitively expensive. According to Gill, HUDS offered to extend the program to Tommy’s for an initial $400 plus an 8 percent fee on every transaction. Tommy’s would also have to pay $570 for a Crimson Cash machine, says Gill.

“The charges were too high,” Gill says.

Cross says that the fees are just high enough so that the program does not lose money, which he says is critical to keep the program alive.

“You look at it in a sense that what’s the least amount we can charge and still break even,” Cross says. “We’re trying to keep [the program] very stable.”

Cross also says that Harvard’s fees are not exorbitant when compared to what other universities charge for similar programs.

“We’re not at the high end,” Cross says.