Those students wishing to use their Lion Cash for food deliveries need to wait no longer.
Wing Zone, 433 E. Beaver Ave., has been accepting Lion Cash on deliveries as part of a pilot program in cooperation with Penn State's ID+ program. The microchips on Penn State students' ID cards are read by a portable point-of-sale terminal.
However, some say the program is facing problems with the inconvenience of the system.
"The problem with the card is the microchip, because you have to bring the [point-of-sale] terminal as compared to the credit card where a number is given," said Brian Cooper, owner of Wing Zone. "[The point-of-sale terminal] is very inconvenient to bring on deliveries."
There are also other problems with the system, Cooper said.
"People are set in their ways to not get a delivery on the [ID+] card because they don't know that they can use it for delivery," he said.
Joel Weidner, associate director of housing and food services, said Cooper approached him about using Lion Cash on deliveries.
Cooper said other Wing Zone franchises are using the payment method it at other universities, and are doing very well with the cards. Weidner said there are advantages to the experimental system. "The nice thing about it is that the card does not need to be hooked up to communication lines, unlike a credit card," Weidner said. "Because of the chip, it is very easy to make a transaction and is very quick."
One of the other advantages of using the card, Cooper said, is that the card charges a 3 percent service rate, as compared to 2.5 to 4 percent with credit cards and 9 percent with Nittany Meal Plan.
The university loaned the point-of-sale terminals to Wing Zone for a trial basis of six months, Cooper said. After the six-month period, it is up to Wing Zone to either continue or discontinue the use of the point of sale terminals on deliveries, he said.
V&S Sandwiches, 128 E. College Ave., was one local business that learned of the possibility of using the Lion Cash delivery system when employees noticed an advertisement for the program, Troy Gensemer, manager, said.
"We saw that Wing Zone was using it and we would definitely consider using Lion Cash on deliveries," he said.
