Since the start of the spring semester, students attempting to use their Gold Card Plus at off-campus businesses have reported their transactions being unexpectedly declined.
When asked for comment, Safety Systems Specialist Justin Freeman from Colorado College’s Office of Information Technology (ITS) told The Catalyst that the issue is not necessarily caused by individual card errors or insufficient funds, but by a disruption in a third-party payment system that processes off-campus transactions.
Freeman explained that the outage is caused by an issue with the external payment provider that services DishOut, a third-party merchant platform used by several off-campus businesses.
“Although we can’t currently use our Gold Cards at a number of impacted off-campus businesses, we can still pay via other methods that are available to us,” Freeman said.
He advised students to bring an alternative form of payment or consider visiting other locations until the issue is resolved.
Freeman added that there is currently no estimated timeline for a fix, but said ITS is actively investigating the disruption as it is “impacting many places and businesses beyond CC.”
To help students plan accordingly, Freeman provided a list of off-campus businesses where Gold Card Plus transactions are currently not working:
- 201 Clover Sport Concessions (Ed Robson Arena)
- 7-Eleven (825 N. Nevada Ave.)
- 7-Eleven (310 W. Uintah St.)
- Azada Mexican Grill
- Evergreen
- Jimmy John’s (10 S. Tejon St.)
- Kochi Boba
- Mediterranean Cafe
- Nacho Matrix
- Odyssey Gastropub
- Paninos
- Safeway (1920 S. Nevada Ave.)
- Safeway (2210 N. Wahsatch Ave.)
- The Best Coffee & Lounge
- WHealthy Unlimited
He said that on-campus locations, including the bookstore and Ahlberg Gear House, remain unaffected because they operate through other payment processors.
ITS is primarily responsible for generating and replacing Gold Cards, as well as administering card access unrelated to student housing. Transactional aspects of Gold Card services, including Meal Plans and Gold Card Plus accounts, are managed through Student Financial Services and campus dining contractors such as Bon Appétit.
For more information on Gold Card services, visit ITS or Student Financial Services.