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GLODOW - NEAD COMMUNICATIONS PUBLICITY & PUBLIC RELATIONS
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Several Bay Area Schools Utilizing New ECCOgen Campus Card Benefits Include Cashless Campus and Parental Controls Coupled With Streamlined Transactions and Increased Cafeteria Sales
SAN FRANCISCO (September 25, 2007) – ECCOgen today announced that its new ECCOgen Campus Card a unique, prepaid program that gives students a versatile and secure means to conduct purchases on campus is being utilized by a handful of Bay Area schools as the new school year begins. The program, which also allows parents to review cafeteria purchases, has met with a warm reception in schools from San Jose and the Peninsula t o the North Bay, and the company is current ly in discussions wit h several dozen addit ional schools. To help implement the card program, ECCOgen has partnered with Food Service Solutions, a leading provider of food service software currently working with over 400 high schools throughout the U.S.
The ECCOgen Campus Card is offered to students for a nominal annual fee. Parents decide the precise amount of money to load onto their children's cards weekly or monthly, eliminat ing the hassle of doling out cash every day for school lunches and allowing parents to better budget for this expense.
"Everywhere I go, school administrators immediately recognize the benefits to the school, to the students, and to the parents of the ECCOgen Campus Card," said ECCOgen founder and president, Michael Ferguson. "It's a learning tool, a budget ing tool, alleviates cafeteria line creep, increases cafeteria sales, and helps parents keep an eye on what their kids are eating for lunch. There really is no down side, and I think that's why schools are embracing the program so eagerly. "
Wit h an electronic card, there is no need to worry about theft or loss, and students can also make purchases using just a PIN number should they misplace t heir card. The ECCOgen card is also an effect ive tool for teaching money management to young adults, as they know exactly how much money they have t o spend over a given period of time. A key element that makes the campus card attractive to parents is the abilit y for parental control with online tracking of purchases and spending limits, allowing parents to view t he food choices their children make. Wit h childhood obesity ranking as a major concern on a national level, parents place great value on being able to monitor their children's food purchases, ensuring that their children are making healt hy and nutritious food choices while in school. As an added incent ive, when parents utilize the ECCOgen card, their child is enrolled in the Student Advantage Discount program (www.studentadvantage.com). This program provides discounts of up to 50 percent at more than 20,000 retail locat ions and restaurants. The brand names that are included in the program include Microsoft, Toshiba, Fell, Sony, Loews, AMC, St aples, and Target.
The ECCOgen Campus Card is also extremely easy for schools to implement. ECCOgen installs the necessary hardware, including touch screens and card readers, and conducts training of the school's food service staff. The ECCOgen Campus Card also helps streamline and expedite a school's cafeteria operations by eliminating cash transact ions. "Working with ECCOgen has been such an easy process. They installed t he software and card readers and trained our entire foodservice staff in just a day and a half," said Tom Gorndt, business manager at Bellarmine College Prep High School. "Wit h the new campus card in place, we are seeing a definite increase in the efficiency of our cafeteria t ransact ions. In the first 3 weeks of operation, our food sales are up 50 percent from the same t ime last year."
For more informat ion about the ECCOgen Campus Card, please visit http://www.eccocard.com/ecco_campus_card.html or call (415) 3535371.
About ECCOgen: ECCOgen is a subsidiary of Mall Teen Cards, LLC, a privately held financial services company composed of founding professionals wit h deep experience in payment processing. Wit h corporate offices in San Francisco, the Mall Teen Cards, LLC management team brings extensive experience in financial planning. The corporate object ive of Mall Teen Cards, LLC is to build the leading branded teen financial planning plat form and offer young adults a program consist ing of money management skills and assistance in career planning. Mall Teen Cards, LLC is the owner and developer of the ECCOgen Financial Planning Program, ECCOgen brand, and ECCOgen Campus Program.
