California State University , Stanislaus and CardSmith Launch New Warrior Card

August 15, 2005

California State University, Stanislaus announced today the launch of the “Warrior Card” a new campus ID card for its Turlock and Stockton campuses.   The new digital image card is used for identification and swipe access to services and cashless payments all over campus - at the bookstore, all on-campus food service locations, health services, housing, and in the future, other points of sale and service around the campuses.  The Warrior Card is being issued this fall to all new and returning students, and will also be available to faculty and staff.  The Warrior Card program is managed for the University by CardSmith, a company specializing in campus card technology and services.    

“We’re very enthusiastic and pleased to bring this exciting One Card service to our students, parents, faculty, staff and business partners” said Clyta Polhemus, Commercial Operations Manager at California State University , Stanislaus.  “It’s a big step forward for the University, and something we’ve wanted to do for a long time.  The Warrior Card becomes the first official photo student identification card at the University that provides campus offices a consistent means to validate students and deliver services.   As we expand uses, our students won’t need coins, cash or other cards to access campus services”. 

“We looked many times at building a card program at California State University , Stanislaus, but were always concerned about the costs of buying a card system and operating the program.  We’re very happy we found CardSmith earlier this year.  They’re providing us a complete card program management solution - for a fraction of what we would have spent buying and installing a card system and staffing an office.  CardSmith manages the systems and processes that power the Warrior Card’s card production, transactions, financial flows, marketing communications, program operations and customer services.  We didn’t have to buy any proprietary technology or hire a single person to create the Warrior Card.  Most importantly, CardSmith brought us the expertise we needed to get started and worked with us hand in hand from day one to create this program”.

The Warrior Card program includes extensive services for students, parents, faculty and staff.  Cardholders and parents can add value to the card’s “Warrior Cash” pre-paid spending account instantly on-line, or set up a recurring “allowance” that funds the account at regular intervals throughout the semester.  Account holders can check balances, view transactions and edit account preferences 24/7 at www.warriorcard.com, a new web site dedicated to the program.  There’s also a professional customer service center and help desk open every business day to assist students and parents and process payments. For locations that accept the card as a form of payment, there’s a fully-supported service including a simple to install terminal, acceptance stickers and signage, 24/7 support, and monthly reporting.

“ California State University , Stanislaus is a unique institution, and Clyta and the One Card team are very committed to their stakeholders and the quality of services provided” said CardSmith President, Jay Summerall.   “The team really pulled together this year to make Warrior Card a reality.  It’s very satisfying for us to be able to help the University achieve its objectives as quickly and efficiently as we have.  We’re looking forward to working with California State University , Stanislaus for a very long time, and to making it possible for other California institutions to follow their lead.”

About CardSmith:

CardSmith is a card technology and management company dedicated to making it easy and affordable for any campus to provide advanced campus card services.  The company offers the market’s only fully-managed campus card service, including a customized transaction processing solution for each client integrated with professional management, marketing and customer support services.  CardSmith’s service eliminates the need for individual campuses to buy or maintain proprietary card systems, delivering next-generation performance for a fraction of the cost of the traditional campus card operation.   The company’s systems is open-standard, enabling easy integration of best-in-class terminals for virtually any card application and economical interface to equipment already deployed on campus.  For more information, please visit www.card-smith.com.

Contacts:

Jay Summerall, President

jsummerall@card-smith.com

617-721-4133;

Brian Farley, Vice President Business Development

bfarley@card-smith.com

617-994-003

Clyta Polhemus , California State University, Stanislaus  Auxiliary & Business Services Commercial Operations Manager

cpolhemus@csustan.edu

209-664-6507