The disposable chip cards have a face value of ten or twenty euros and were introduced last year so that temporary international guests could use the UT's catering facilities as well. It was discovered from an evaluation however that over 3,500 of these cards were sold and eighty-percent of those purchased were bought by Dutch students and employees. According to Robert Ree of the FED, the use of the disposable cards `is running out of control.' A card costs the UT €2.50 and those costs are not charged to the customer.
The reason behind the new measure is to regulate that the only people, who should be using the cards, are those who cannot get their own chip card from a Dutch bank. `That will save us about six thousand euros,' says Ree. Only international guests of the UT should be able to get a disposable card; most international students are usually here for a longer period, and they have a Dutch bank account. In principle, everyone with a Dutch bank account has a chip card. The only exception is for people with a 'giro'bank account, but those people can request a card for free at the Postbank. UT Catering understands the new measure, but doubts the possibilities to regulate it. `We can hardly check everyone like a police officer,' says Vivian Liebers.
It is still possible to use cash money to buy food and drinks in student restaurants and canteens. However, you will receive a ten percent discount for using a chip card.
