ContactlessNews | MetroChange puts leftover MTA funds to some good use

Friday, December 23, 2011

Every year millions of dollars worth of value on MTA MetroCards is either lost or discarded. A group of students from New York University’s Interactive Communications Program have devised a platform that takes this remaining value and put it to some good use.

Reported by gothamist, MetroChange takes unusable, leftover money before cards are discarded and donates it to charity. Users simply swipe their MetroCard, confirm the amount and press the button. The value is then sent to a central fund, each month donated to charity.

The kiosk developed, by NYU students, comprises Arduino platform, Ethernet shield, LCD screen, IR transmitter and receiver, and magnetic-stripe card reader. A recycle, waste basket also allows contributors to deposit their plastic MetroCard for recycling.

The physical card would be taken for recycling, and the money on it would go to charity.

MetroChange from Genevieve Hoffman on Vimeo.

New Jersey Transit’s use of NFC payments with Google Wallet has been an “overwhelming and resounding success,” according to NJ Transit spokesman John Durson.

Introduced on the NJ Transit network in October 2011, Google Wallet enables riders to purchase tickets with the tap of an NFC-enabled phone at New York Penn Station, Newark Liberty Airport’s rail station and on 7 city bus lines.

CBORD’s GET Funds provides students mobile account management

The CBORD Group rolled out GET Funds, an online and mobile commerce software application that puts account information in the hands of students wherever mobile smart phone services are available.

American Express rolls out prepaid cards at Barnes and Noble college bookstores

American Express has launched its Campus Edition prepaid card, a reloadable card available at more than 500 Barnes & Noble college bookstores across the United States. The card will provide college students with a spending and budgeting tool that can be used wherever American Express Cards are accepted.

Students trying to use up meal plan money

Students at college campuses may be rapidly swiping their student ID cards in order to spend what’s left of their meal plan purse. At colleges like DePaul University in Chicago, they either use the money before the end of term or they lose it.

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