The students and teachers from the Dutch Marnix Academy, a school for higher education with almost 2.000 students registered, have started the new school year with a smart card that can also be used for the school copiers, the library, coffee machine vending and in the canteen. The smart card system is multifunctional and is not only used for identification and all payments within the school, but is also a discount card in several shops outside the academy. The contactless smart card is issued on the spot with student data and picture and can be revalued using a regular bank card. The card printing and encoding process is fully automated and can be done in one run using a retransfer card printer with integrated encoder function. The system is prepared for future expansion for access and control and the bike locker application.

The head of the Marnix Academy ICT department, Eva Sebok: "The students already had a college card. To prevent the students from having one card for each single application, we were looking for a multifunctional badge. On top of that, we were looking for a way to improve the cash flow within the academy since cash has a larger chance of fraud and is more cost and time demanding. We wanted to simplify the payment procedures."

The Marnix Academy has calculated that they will earn back the investment for the system within three years as they now have the flexibility to create only the cards they actually require. The system has not only the advantages of cost reduction, better monitoring but also the environment profits. Students and teachers are no longer wasting large amounts of paper now that each single copy is registered. Students can download the reader material free of charge and pay per printed page. And the teachers can still print free of charge but their printing behavior can be monitored so every one is using the copier much more eco-consciously.

Managing Director ScreenCheck Europe: "We chose a mifare smart card application that is centrally managed by our Card Management System, with links to the several application systems. In case of card loss or theft it is possible to update the payment or access and control systems in a minute."