Quinnipiac University has decided to discontinue the use of QCash, citing the inefficiency of the system and high cost required to run it.
“The QCash program will be discontinued effective May 29, as part of the university’s ongoing efforts to modernize campus operations and improve the overall community experience,” Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett wrote in a university wide email Monday.
QCash is a cash/debit system, dollars students add to the card themselves and are used like a debit card at supported local vendors, food trucks, the bookstore and even as cash for purchases at the cafes, according to the university’s website.
The system will remain available for use until the end of spring 2026 semester.
“Beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year, campus services, such as printing, vending, dining, and other point-of-scale locations will transition away from QCash and instead support more widely used payment options,” the email read. “Further details regarding these updates, including timelines and next steps, will be communicated as they are finalized.”
With students naturally gravitating towards Apple Pay more, QCash has been rendered obsolete.
“The utilization of it has not been very strong and the amount of time and effort it takes to continue it isn’t worth it,” Ellett said. “It’s just a thing of the past. It just didn’t make a lot of sense to continue it when there’s so many other options that exist.
Ellett also cited that refunding students after the academic year has been complicated and financially not worth it, as the processing fee to refund someone is set at $5 and oftentimes the students don’t have even that much QCash left.
The main function of the QCash has been to pay for printing services around campus. Ellett said that this service will be moved to a new company, and that those details will be announced soon.
The money that students still have left in their QCards will be refunded as long as it exceeds $5, instead of transferring into the fall semester.
“People will just use their own cards to pay for everything,” Ellett said.
Another important function for QCash was the ability to pay for the food if a student ran out of meal points. According to Ellett, students didn’t actually utilize that that much.
“We looked at how much people use it if we take the printing out,” Ellett said. “People aren’t using it that much off campus. And then the administration every year of having to send money back to the students, didn’t make a lot of sense.”
QCards will still be used for mealpoints and as key cards to the residential buildings.