Crimson Cash Transfers Now Available On-line

Starting today, students will be able to add money to Crimson Cash accounts via the Internet, according to Harvard Dining Services (HDS).

The new Web site (www. cash.harvard.edu) supplements the eight Value Transfer Stations (VTS) located across campus and a telephone line at HDS specifically dedicated to Crimson Cash.

Members of the Undergraduate Council approached Mayer recently to address the shortage of VTS machines near the River Houses, but HDS has been developing the Web site since last spring, said HDS Director Ted A. Mayer.

"It's something we've been working at for a while," he said.

There are currently four VTS machines in the vicinity of the Yard (in Loker Commons, and in Cabot, Widener and Lamont libraries), but the closest one to the River Houses is at the Kennedy School.

VTS machines are "several thousand dollars apiece," Mayer said. Besides eliminating the need for additional VTS machines, the Web site also makes Crimson Cash more accessible, Mayer said.

"It's more convenient," he said. "You can do it from your room, from any one of the computers [across campus]."

Students use the VTS machines between 150 and 200 times each day, said Jeffrey Cuppett, manager of card technologies at HDS.

About $750,000 is added to accounts each year through the machines, Cuppett said.

The Web site has been on-line in a testing stage since Monday, Mayer said. "We have to test for redundancies," he said.

"We have two computers that are tied into the system," he said, "so that if one goes down the other goes up, or if the volume is such that is requires two computers to process."

A consulting company that includes former Crimson Cash employees designed the site, Mayer said.

Mayer said he hopes to get "quite a bit" of business through the Crimson Cash Web site, which will accept Visa and MasterCard.

"I think I would use it," Tomo Hamakaya '02 said as he used Crimson Cash for his laundry in Weld basement. He said he thinks it is "a good system."

Justin B. Lantz '02 said he has added money to his account via the telephone service, but said he would use the new Web site. "If I ran out, I would [use it]," he said.

Shiri Breznitz, a research assistant at Harvard who says she uses Crimson Cash often, was having trouble getting the VTS in the Science Center to accept her $10 bill.

She said she wouldn't use an online VTS.

"You usually know when the card is finished when you use it, not when you are at home," she said.