Graham Davis, Information Service Manager who chairs HESCA (Higher Education Smart Campus Association), regularly presents and shares Brighton’s knowledge and experience to the HE sector.
Reduction in physical cash administration and greater use of bank cards and the student smart card (unicard) make major contributions in moving towards a complete cashless campus.
The university’s Hospitality and Accommodation team’s catering service is leading the way in reducing cash handling with a major upgrade to their catering service – the introduction of a ‘Tap and Go’ card service at retail outlets, along with new promotions, discounts and loyalty schemes.
In May 2019, catering will be trialling a new mobile app which allows users to top-up their unicard online and use the balance to pay for food, exploiting a new feature within the app called Vpay where debits come off the users’ unicard balance.
Students can already pay for their personal computers, library services, printing and catering services using their unicard, and the School of Art has already gone completely cashless.
Graham said: “Momentum within the HE sector is towards a complete cashless campus, including adding current smart card services on to mobile devices with a focus on improving the user’s experiences when using payment services.”