University representatives are currently negotiating a partnership with Listerhill Credit Union to upgrade the quality of Mane Cards. If signed, the contract would give students the option to include debit accounts on their cards.

If the two parties can reach an agreement, all students will be expected to upgrade their cards in the fall, at no cost to them, said Cindy Conlon, assistant vice president for business services and procurement.

The new Mane Cards should be available next semester. When the change occurs, students will be able to go to the Listerhill on campus and have their new Mane Cards made, Conlon said.

“We hope to have it up and running in full effect by the fall of this year, 2014,” Conlon said. “We will be rolling it out with SOAR this year. For students (already attending), we’re going to re-card everyone so that everyone’s Mane Cards look the same.”

One benefit of re-carding is Listerhill will be paying for the new cards to be made on higher-quality card stock, Conlon said.

“Even if you do not use your Mane Card as a debit card, it will have the same quality as the debit card you might carry in your pocket today from any bank,” Conlon said. “Since Listerhill is funding it, (the Mane Cards) won’t cost the university money like they do today.”

The tougher cards will be an asset for students, said sophomore Brandon Jiminez.

“For people who live in the dorms like me their cards can get damaged opening the doors,” Jiminez said. “Mine has almost broken from being in my wallet and from using it so much. A tougher quality card would definitely help out a lot.”

The appearance of the card will not be changing significantly, Conlon said.

“They will be making cards identical to the Mane Card except that it will have a VISA logo on it,” Conlon said. “It will be embossed with a VISA debit card account number and be tied to a Listerhill account. It is literally a debit card.”

The cards will feature two magnetic strips: one purple and one red. The purple one will perform all functions of a normal Mane Card and the red one will work as a Listerhill debit card, Conlon said.

Students wishing to switch to the new card can do so at no cost unless they are also setting up a Listerhill account for the first time, said Kristen Mashburn, marketing director for Listerhill Credit Union.

“Whether or not there are any fees just depends on the Listerhill account you select,” Mashburn said. “Students will have the option to pick any of the Listerhill debit accounts for their cards.”

Taisa Poellnitz, a junior, said she would consider this option since she has a Listerhill account.

“I wouldn’t have to carry around my Listerhill card and my Mane Card,” Poellnitz said. “Some students like me don’t have meal plans and just use debit cards. Instead of me having to bring my debit card with me, it would be more convenient to have it all in one.”

Ultimately, Listerhill was chosen because they have great student checking accounts, Conlon said.

“They’ll forgive you up to five times if you overdraw, and you don’t have to have a whole lot of money to even open an account,” Conlon said. “They also don’t charge all the fees that a lot of other banks do. We went through a due process and looked through all the plans different banks offer for students and decided Listerhill’s was the best, and this is why we decided to partner with them.”

Freshman Natasha Thomas can see why students would consider the option, but would personally like to keep her accounts separate, she said.

“I guess if you use Listerhill, it would be more convenient for students,” Thomas said. “Personally, I would like having my accounts separate because if I had one card stolen, I would still have the other and not have to worry as much about replacing it. If you have everything on one card and that gets stolen, you’re losing a lot of information.”

Editor’s note: To read about past efforts to complete this business deal, click here.