Midwest college continues high tech trend: Kansas company to launch the PocketChange(TM) Cashless Payment Network at Missouri Western State College this month

Students at Missouri Western State College will be buying sodas with their mobile phones this semester when PocketChange(TM) is installed in select campus vending machines. Students get free soda for trying new technology.

Overland Park, Kan. (PRWEB) September 20, 2002 -- Students at Missouri Western State College (Western) will be buying sodas with their mobile phones this semester when Wirca Incorporated, a wireless technology startup from Overland Park launches a payment service called PocketChange in select campus vending machines.

The new technology will be unveiled during an on-campus drive Monday, Sept. 30th and Tuesday, Oct. 1 in the Nelle Blum Student Union. To encourage people to try PocketChange, the first two sodas per customer will be completely free. After that, students will be asked to visit http://western.pocketchange.com to complete their membership sign-up.

To join the network, members put a certain amount of disposable cash into an account associated with their mobile phone number. Accounts can be funded by credit/debit, bank account number, or check. There are no fees, extra charges, padded pricing, or interest accumulated on PocketChange accounts. Members pay only the exact, original price of the products and services they purchase. Merchants (like vending machine owners) foot the bill for PocketChange transactions, but they benefit as well by having wireless access to sales, inventory, and settlement information.

During the trial at Western, PocketChange will let students use mobile phones to buy soda simply by dialing a phone number displayed on the vending machine and making a beverage selection. Wirca hopes to provide a better way for college students to pay for things that would normally require small or exact amounts of cash.

This program will give Western students a more convenient way to obtain these products," says Ron Olinger, Westerns vice-president for financial planning and administration. Western is proud to be a representative institution for the testing of leading edge technologies."

Western has long been committed to using technology in improving the student experience. Computer labs are state-of-the-art and residence halls are wired for high-speed internet access. Now the PocketChange service will provide an added convenience in an environment where exact change can be hard to come by.

Company Information
Wirca" is short for wireless cash. Founded in 2000, Wirca has been testing PocketChange in various markets throughout the midwest. For more information, visit http://www.wirca.com. Contact Rachel Jackman at 913.383.2400 x 119.