CUNY has launched the University-wide CUNYCard! With the signing of the contract between SUNY and Citibank (the primary vendor) for the SUNYCard System on December 12, 1995, the way was paved for CUNY, as one of the participants in the RFP process that led to this successful conclusion, to begin work on the CUNYCard. The card will provide basic identification and will contain the CUNY+ library patron number. Three commercial services may be contracted for by the card owner:

* a Citibank debit card, allowing for cash machine withdrawals and point-of-sale transactions at stores with appropriate "swiping" hardware;

* an MCI long-distance telephone credit card;

* residential long-distance carrier service from MCI, including separate billing for individual members of the household.

The CUNYCard, currently being designed, will display on the front the individual's digitized photo, name, college name, college status, 16-digit number, CUNY logo, and library patron number. The back of the card will have two "swipe stripes:"one that conforms to International Standards Organization (ISO) standards and can be used for those functions listed above (and for other discretionary applications on campus), and a "junk strip" that can be utilized for small purchases from vending machines on those campuses that offer the service.

Although the card will be issued to all members of each college community, it will be done on a college-by-college basis, following an intricate series of steps that prepare the college for the "carding event" and for the assumption of responsibilities associated with the card on an ongoing basis. As this newsletter goes to press, the first tier of colleges to be "carded" has begun the process. It is anticipated that the first "carding" events will take place early in the Fall 1996 semester.