Grambling has changed since 1901. There are new buildings, new administrators, and much more. When the GSU students arrived back to campus earlier this month, they found out something had changed. The "refund card."
On January 14, 2004, JPMorgan Chase and Bank One announced plans to merge. After many legal issues were settled, JPMorgan Chase and Bank One completed their merger on July 1, 2004.
While both companies merged, Chase was selected as brand name for consumer and commercial banking business. These businesses include retail banking, credit card, home and auto finance, small business, middle market and mid-corporate banking. Chase is also the brand used to provide prepaid E-funds cards to GSU students.
While most students do not appear to be concerned with the new cards, many do not know that the program originally started as a pilot program for GSU in 2002.
The success at GSU has helped set the path for an additional fifteen schools to join the student disbursement card program. Normally, the refund money is provided to students as a check, which would need to be cashed. With this innovative program, refunds are placed on a Chase E-funds University Visa card, which allows immediate access to the money.
The program was the solution to GSU administrators, who noticed that students were forced to miss classes to wait in line for a refund check. Refund checks also are more expensive, as the university has to print the checks, and students have to pay a fee to cash it.
The controller and associate vice president for finance of GSU has been surprised with the program."The Chase E-funds University Visa card has met my every expectation," Norman E. Jones said in a published statement. "It transformed a tiresome and frustrating process into a win-win situation for all parties affected."
The effects have been felt across campus. More than $24.7 million has been credited to GSU students’ Chase E-funds cards. In the 2004 academic year, approximately $16.2 million was credited.