ID replacement costs will rise to $20

By Tim Chappell, Reporter

Published April 10, 2007

Students who lose their student identification cards will now have to pay an extra $10 for a replacement and need to report the theft immediately.

The cards serve as both identification and debit devices for students and can be targets for theft and abuse.

Campus Dining Facilities offers an E.Z. Charge function that allows students to use a student ID as a debit card. Students can choose to either deposit money into a prepaid account or charge expenses to the account to be reconciled by a monthly statement.

A thief could commit fraud using the card's E.Z. Charge function to make illicit purchases. The fraudster could deplete the funds available or rack up enormous debt.

"It is the student's responsibility and the university does not recompense them," IT Division spokesman Terry Robb said. "That is why it is important that the student reports it immediately."

Robb said students should file a police report if their card is used fraudulently.

Charges have been made with stolen cards at facilities on campus, but the victim has little recourse if the perpetrator is not caught.

On March 1, a student ID was used fraudulently at the University Bookstore to purchase $250 in female clothing. MU police Capt. Brian Weimer said the case has not been solved.

"It's nice, and it's easy, and it's convenient, but it lends itself to being overused by students because it is so convenient," Office for Financial Success Director Mark Oleson said.

He said the feeling is similar to that of a credit card in which instead of seeing cash taken from the purchaser, it is simply a swipe of a card, putting students at ease to spend more than they would otherwise.

In the event a student loses his or her ID, instructions are available at the ID office and online, but some students could elect to do nothing and hope the card shows up. Robb said this is a risky practice. Instead, Robb said students should report the loss as soon as possible to the ID office.

If an ID is lost after the office's business hours, students can call or go to Mizzou Market in Pershing Commons to have the card deactivated.

Deactivating the card is instantaneous for the E.Z. Charge function and Residential Life security, which is important for preventing misuse, but other card functions, such as accessing the Student Recreation Complex, charging merchandise at the University Bookstore and operating locks on doors not managed by Campus Facilities Department can take more than 24 hours depending on when the loss is reported.

If the card is found after it has been deactivated, it can be reactivated at no cost, Robb said. Students can purchase a replacement, which costs $10, at the ID Office.

But the replacement will cost $20 next semester. Robb said new student IDs are being issued as early as August. The old cards have been in use since 1998. The cards will be redesigned, but there will be no functional change, Robb said.

Robb said students are more vulnerable in certain situations, such as at the Student Recreation Complex. Robb said the complex has the most reported incidents of ID card theft because people leave their cards unattended while exercising.