Guest Cards

Anonymous Debit Accounts

Guest cards are anonymous debit account cards that can be acquired at any of the five deposit kiosks located in the W.E.B Du Bois Library (main and 5th floors), the Integrated Sciences Library (Lederle Graduate Research Center), the Campus Center Concourse, and the Hampden Convenience Store.

Guest cards can be used at any location that accepts the UCard as payment. Guest Cards are reusable, and additional cash deposits can be made to a Guest Card using one of the aforementioned deposit kiosks.

Who should use a Guest Card?

The Guest Cards were designed primarily with visitors or local library users in mind, since these individuals do not have UCards. Students, faculty, and staff should refrain from using Guest Cards, and should use their UCard debit accounts instead.

Guest Card debit accounts are inferior to UCard debit accounts in several important ways:

  • Guest Cards are anonymous. If you lose or damage your Guest Card, you forfeit any remaining funds on the Guest Card. UCard debit accounts however, are associated with you, so if you damage or lose your UCard, you can get a replacement UCard, and immediately access your UCard debit account with your replacement card (the old card is deleted from the system and can never work again.) You forfeit nothing. Also, if you leave the University, your UCard debit account is closed and so long as you had a closing balance >$10, you receive a full refund. There are no refunds for Guest Cards accounts.

  • Guest Cards have limited deposit options. Guest cards can only accept cash deposits at one of the four VTSes on campus, whereas there are several ways to make a UCard deposit.

  • Guest Cards cannot be suspended. If you lose or misplace your UCard, you can suspend it indefinitely , to prevent anyone else from using it. Guest Cards however, cannot be suspended. So there is no way to prevent someone else from using spending your funds, should they somehow get access to your Guest Card.

If you find an abandoned Guest Card, you should return it to the UCard Office either in person or via campus mail.