Wireless payment processor and hardware provider, Apriva has established connections to its cashless payment gateway with all major campus card service providers, enabling vending operators to accept student cards for payment.

According to a report from Vending Times, Apriva recently completed a vertical integration of the company's payment hardware and cashless payment gateway with the card systems provided by the major card system vendors -- Blackboard, CBORD, Heartland Campus Solutions and Atrium. The integration enables Apriva to accept student cards as a form of payment for vending services at more than 2,400 campuses.

According to company executive vice-president Rinaldo Spinella, Apriva is the only cashless payment gateway that has established contracts with all major campus card providers. Apriva has also extended its efforts north to Canada, striking agreements with the University of British Columbia and similar universities that manage their own campus card systems.

Apriva ensures that the cashless readers from any of their hardware partners installed on each machine and connected to the Apriva gateway can securely read the student card, credit, debit and prepaid cards from all major brands. Apriva also establishes a secure, server-to-server connection with each student card brand via the campus card vendor, as well as with each credit and debit card brand's payment processors.

In addition to enabling fast and secure transactions for students, faculty, staff and visitors, Spinella says the increase in volume from the use of student cards for purchase could provide some relief from tight margins. "We can now 'productize' the student card as a payment source for vending operators," he says. "It took a lot of years, but we've done the heavy lifting and are ready to connect to virtually any campus that issues a closed-loop, payment student card."