Students will soon be able to use their Capbucks at surrounding restaurants.
The Office of Business and Finance began the process of selecting restaurants to participate in this program last year, running into hardship upon the closure of COSi, which was the intended pilot restaurant.
What was scheduled to be up and running by the time students returned from Christmas break has ended up needing more time for fine tuning, as the technology necessary to communicate between Capital and participating businesses has been a harder transition than originally planned for.
Currently, Zoe’s and Jimmy John’s are being used as test restaurants. Capital has provided card readers to both businesses that are programmed to work only with student cards. The card readers are able to directly interact with each individual student’s account balance at any given time.
According to Tracy Severson, executive administrative assistant of business and finance, “Final testing is slated for January 24-26, and we will take a group of students over to both locations.” Running a final test will ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible for both students and restaurant employees.
Students will be able to use their Capbucks just as they would on campus but will have many more options. Jimmy John’s already offers delivery to the residence halls, but students will soon be able to call the store, give them their student ID number, and receive their order. It will also be possible to include a tip with Capbucks.
“Our goal is to have five different choices for students by the end of the year,” Mike Horan, vice president of business and finance, said.
Students can expect to be able to use their Capbucks at both Zoe’s and Jimmy John’s by the end of the month.
