Freshman Ethan Shapiro, junior Brody Hender, and sophomore Caitlin Price decided to pitch the idea of digitizing Phoenix cards to their entrepreneurship class. The card is stored in your phone’s digital wallet, but retains its functionality. Although the project is intended for classroom purposes only, the group hopes to pitch the idea to Elon University and possibly digitize the Phoenix Card.
Shapiro said he and his group took the idea from the concept of digital credit cards and think it would work in the same way. The Phoenix Card gives students access to Phoenix Cash, meal plans, dorms, and other services. Shapiro said going digital doesn’t change how things work, it just makes them more convenient.
“It works by replacing the physical Phoenix card and has the same functionality,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro argues that the digital version will make it easier for students to manage their Phoenix cards, and there will be fewer problems if the physical card is lost. Shapiro said students won’t have to remember if they brought their cards or call a friend to take them back to their dorm at night. Instead, all they have to do is bring their cell phone.
“Personally, I’m a very technical person and I feel like having a digital card on my phone makes my life easier,” Shapiro said.
Digitizing the Phoenix card will also help Elon improve security, Hender said. He has heard stories of students who used their lost Phoenix cards for themselves instead of returning them.
“I’ve heard stories of people finding Phoenix cards on the ground and using them to get food,” Hender said. “I think that’s a security issue, and I don’t think that would happen with a digital card.”
However, if a student’s cell phone battery dies, they will not be able to access their digital card and will not be able to enter their dormitory. However, Hender said the solution to this problem is to add charging stations outside each dorm entrance to prevent this issue from happening.
“It costs a little extra money, but it’s not that expensive to add some chargers to each dorm building to prevent that from happening,” Hender said. “iPhones and Androids charge very quickly, so I don’t think it’s that big of an issue.”
Other universities currently use Transact Campus Company’s digital ID cards, including Purdue University, Xavier University, and the University of Alabama. Hender said the university would join the candidates if Elon accepted their claims. They were already discussing the possibility of moving to a digital Phoenix Card using Phoenix Card Services.
Hender said Phoenix Card Services liked the idea, but needed approval from the Information Technology Department for the digital Phoenix Card to be approved. Hender said the idea of a digital phoenix card is brought up every month using information technology, but the idea is always rejected or buried due to lack of funding.
“It’s a futuristic idea, but I don’t think they have the money for it right now,” Hender said.
Despite the financial difficulties, the group believes that with enough support from students, they can solve this problem. They believe that if they can raise enough funds, the university will be willing to make the transition to a digital Phoenix card.
“This is a new thing that many universities are doing,” Professor Hender said. “Therefore, we need to enlist the support of students to raise funds for the school to make this happen.”
