Students at Louisiana Tech University are using their campus card and Tech Express account at local merchants thanks to CBORD’s UGryd. The cards have been used for on-campus purchasing since the mid-1990s but this is the first foray into the community.

The article cites expansion of the physical campus closer to downtown as one reason for rising student interest in the off campus card use.

Lisa Cole, comptroller for Louisiana Tech, told the News Star that initial phase of the program would include more than 25 merchants, a record for a UGryd launch. Merchants receive a POS terminal, daily settlement via ACH, online access to real-time transaction activity and end-of-month statements.

CBORD describes UGryd as a PCI-compliant transaction-processing host for off-campus programs. It enables real-time transaction processing over secure connections between universities and merchants, eliminating the need for phone lines, modem banks and excess hardware on campus.