With over $1.5 million spent in the past fiscal year, the Bear Bucks system has become a prominent feature of the Washington University community. While students, faculty and staff enjoy the ease of using their Washington University ID cards at off-campus vendors, some merchants have experienced challenges as part of the system, with the Delmar Loop barbecue restaurant Salt and Smoke leaving the program recently.

For the program’s 63 off-campus vendors, a combination of higher processing fees and sometimes-unreliable card readers can create a hassle. When card terminals break, merchants also report difficulties in getting their systems back online.

Stephen Huber | Student Life

Patrons eat barbecue food outside Salt + Smoke in the Delmar Loop earlier in October. In recent weeks, Salt + Smoke stopped accepting Bear Bucks as a payment option due to high processing fees and sometimes-unreliable card readers.

Even with these initial challenges, Rachel Reinagel, manager of Campus Card Services, believes off-campus vendors see the benefits of joining the Bear Bucks system.

“Whenever I talk to off-campus merchants, I explain that, by accepting Bear Bucks, they are offering a service to students and employees, so they are reaching a large population that is usually right at their back door. And included in the program is advertising we will do for the merchants…I think that they see the value in accepting Bear Bucks, especially if they are within a close proximity to the campus,” Reinagel said.

Some businesses, like Pastaria in Clayton, agree with Reinagel’s assessment of the system’s benefits.

Stephanie Gittemeier, a manager at Pastaria, believes that accepting Bear Bucks allows students the ability to have more choice in dining options.

“We chose to be a part of it, because we are very close to the campus, and it seemed like something that would be useful for [students] to be able to come and have different choices as far as meals go,” Gittemeier said.

However, other merchants have become wary of the unreliability of the Bear Bucks system. Salt + Smoke cited their slow and frequently breaking card terminal as the main reason behind their departure.

“For me, it was really an issue of forcing my customers to have bad customer experiences, because either you were using Bear Bucks and it was taking forever, if it was working, or if it wasn’t working, then we would have to get on the phone and call their tech support, which would take forever,” Tom Schmidt, owner of Salt + Smoke, said.

Reinagel noted that the off-campus Bear Bucks system, which is run by an outside provider, does provide technical assistance, although frequently the issue lies in the merchant’s Internet connection.

Separate from the technical aspects of card readers, the Bear Bucks program charges processing fees that some vendors may not be able to afford. While the University does provide advertising benefits to the program’s merchants, Reinagel understands that the higher cost of accepting Bear Bucks may not be worth it for all businesses.

“Some merchants have found that the service is not profitable for their business any longer, because maybe they weren’t seeing the traffic they thought they would from the Wash. U. community,” Reinagel said.

Either way, students say they enjoy the benefits that the Bear Bucks system provides. Sophomore Rahul Ramaswamy likes not having to remember to bring cash when shopping or dining at merchants that are part of the program.

“I really like the Bear Bucks system primarily because of convenience. I feel like it is something I always have on me, my Wash. U. ID card—like perhaps I could forget cash at one spot or another, but I always have my ID card on me,” Ramaswamy said.