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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Smartphone application allows purchases at UB vending machines

Students no longer need UB card to purchase snacks

David Le uses a mobile application to access his ID card, allowing him to purchase items from vending machines through his phone. Courtesy of Steve Morse
David Le uses a mobile application to access his ID card, allowing him to purchase items from vending machines through his phone. Courtesy of Steve Morse

What’s worse than racing for a Reese’s bar only to be greeted by that helpless feeling of reaching into your barren wallet?

You are left with no bills, no change and no UB ID card.

But now, you will not have to walk away with defeat and worry about how you find your next snack – or even meal for some.

Campus Dining and Shops (CDS) recently launched a Mobile ID application that allows students to make purchases at on-campus vending machines.

“Students are always going to have their phone on them,” said Ray Kohl, CDS Marketing Manager. “They may leave their card in their room, but they’ll always have their phone on them.”

UB installed the feature into over 250 vending machines this summer to make them accessible by phone, a plan that has been in the works for over a year.

Alexandria Kornfeld, a senior health and human services major, said Mobile ID is an “awesome” concept.

She has friends who have lost their IDs before and said it can be a big problem because it is basically your life at UB.

“People have their phone literally attached to them, so to make an app that kind of helps out with that stuff makes it easier,” Kornfeld said.

To access the Mobile ID app, students can search for “CBORD Mobile ID” on Google Play and the Apple App Store to download and install it on their phones, according to myubcard.com. Next, they will enter “myaccount.myubcard.com” for the Server URL and then authenticate and authorize their device when asked.

Students are advised to input a PIN for security purposes.

To make a purchase, students can launch the app, enter their 4-digit PIN and enter the Mobile ID Location Number of the machine they wish to make a purchase from. Every vending machine has a sticker with this number for students to input.

Each new vending machine location will register into the app and saved on a favorites list so it will no longer have to be reentered.

Students will then “swipe” on their phone to send a payment to the vending machine and a selection can be made per usual.

“I think we’re really advancing technologically compared to my other friends at other smaller schools,” Kornfeld said. “I’m proud of UB for that.”

Currently, there are only around 400 students accessing the application, but the number has skyrocketed since classes started, according to Keith Curtachio, Director of Information Technology.

UB’s technology goes beyond vending machines. Students and parents can receive access to UB Card accounts for information about account balances and spending history, according to myubcard.com. The mobile page allows both parties to deposit funds into the students’ accounts from any location through a smartphone.

“You can fund yourself on the fly, so to speak,” Curtachio said.

Curtachio said students won’t need to wait on long lines at the UB Card office anymore, as he witnessed on the first day of classes.

UB is trying to expand its mobile services, according to Kohl. In the next month, CDS will be upgrading the Mobile ID so it can be used in dining locations as well – starting with the Ellicott Food Court and later on to all operations to guide UB into a more technologically accessible campus.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

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