Beginning June 1, Marshall University will end its 10-year partnership with Higher One and begin a partnership with PNC Bank to issue refunds for students. Upon the start of the new partnership with PNC, the university will commence reissuing student IDs to current and incoming students with the new system and IDs.

According tot he Marshall Parthenon, the agreement will see all students receive a new ID card. There will be no charge for students' first cards, while lost, broken or stolen cards will carry a replacement fee of $20.

Higher One's relationship with Marshall spanned ten years after an initial five-year contract was renewed for additional five years by the university. The new contract with PNC will consist of a similar five-year contract with the option for a five year renewal. The university will review the relationship with PNC following the initial five-year period and make the decision to extend the contract or seek another vendor.

PNC was awarded the contract in a unanimous decision following an RFP process that was handled by Marshall University's Purchasing Office. Despite a number of other proposals being submitted, PNC’s previous relationship with West Virginia University showed their knowledge of West Virginia student culture.

The new relationship with PNC eliminates the Higher One issued cards and gives Marshall students a traditional student ID with the option to open an account with PNC. The PNC agreement also provides students with refund functionality directly at the Marshall website, whereas the previous agreement saw refunds managed at a Higher One site which required students to have a Higher One issued card in order to log in.

Marshall University had previously discussed and decided to choose a vendor based on their proposal of separate ID and debit card functionality. The university's RFP was issued specifically with the stipulation that Marshall was seeking just a refund service not the integrated card with ID and the debit function.

There are three options for refunds at Marshall, direct deposit into any existing checking account specified by the student, a hard copy check mailed to a permanent address, or the student can choose to open a bank account. The new account is not mandatory for students but a nice option which comes with a debit card to access the account.

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