UA bookstore plans to cut Pocket Money

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Frank Farias

Frank Farias, the store's director, said the campus bookseller will soon stop accepting Pocket Money to purchase books and other merchandise.

"The customer is inconvenienced because the system is always broken down," he said. "It's not the best or most convenient system for students to meet their needs."

Pocket Money, a feature of the University of Arizona's identification card, provides an additional way for students to pay for items at the bookstore and at other selected campus establishments that do not serve food.

But Farias said the bookstore has had enough of Pocket Money and will stop accepting it when the semester ends.

CatCard Office Director Liz Taylor said the bookstore is the biggest Pocket Money user, as 95 percent of transactions come from its sales.

Students will not be allowed to make deposits to the system after Oct. 15, said Taylor, adding that any unused Pocket Money after Jan. 1 will be refunded.

"Really nobody is taking Pocket Money on campus," she said. "We did it with the students in mind."

With the current system slated for elimination, Farias said "(Student Union Director) Dan Adams stands to lose out."

The Student Union-officiated system currently charges the bookstore a 1 percent fee each time a transaction is processed, where major credit cards invoke a surcharge less than 1 percent, Farias said.

"Pocket Money was used to create revenue for the Student Union," he said. "It lost all the appeal for us to want to be involved with the Union. We should never create partnerships that don't benefit students."

But Adams defended the current system, saying he can't understand why Farias doesn't think the Pocket Money-bookstore relationship works.

He said the 1 percent surcharge is necessary to help pay for Pocket Money's computer maintenance.

"I'd be glad to give up the transaction fee if he'd pay the costs," Adams said.

He also said the bookstore uses one computer modem to communicate with Pocket Money, which causes the system to occasionally go down.

"I agree with him that it's not effective for the bookstore to put all transactions through one single modem," Adams said. "I think the bookstore needs to step up and change the way they use Pocket Money."

Taylor said her office is virtually unaffected by the change, since the Student Union basically runs the Pocket Money system.

The bookstore takes the CatCard's Smart Chip and Pocket Money, she said.

Farias said the bookstore will continue accepting the CatCard's other options, and hopes to start a system where students can make purchases and be billed later through their personal accounts, much like a credit card.

"We'll get together to make sure no student is hurt by this decision," he said.

David J. Cieslak can be reached via e-mail at David.J.Cieslak@wildcat.arizona.edu.