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Heartland Payment Systems, a leading provider of credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll and payment services, has been selected by Slippery Rock University of Slippery Rock, Pa. to deliver the convenience and security of contactless payments by cell phone to students and faculty.

This first-of-its-kind college campus solution in the U.S. – developed by Heartland's new micro-payments division – capitalizes on two well-established trends: the ubiquity of the mobile phone among college students; and the popularity of new contactless, or tap-and-go, payments among American consumers.

Beginning in July, Slippery Rock University's 8,500 students, faculty and staff will receive a new official campus ID card and a separate contactless token designed for use with their mobile phones.

Using either the card or the phone, they will be able to make payments at on-campus locations as well as participating merchants in the surrounding community. During the summer, campus vending machines, laundry facilities, photocopiers and printers will be outfitted with dual technology readers to enable contactless payments via mobile phone in addition to the traditional ID card payments.

"Students are great innovators, yet for the past two decades, payments on campus have remained fundamentally unchanged," says Robert O. Carr, chairman and chief executive officer of Heartland Payment Systems. "We are excited to partner with Slippery Rock to help launch the next generation of campus card programs. This new product launch allows us to showcase our next generation of micro-payments technology at a well-known school led by an innovative administration. This is just the first step for us in ushering in a new era of payment processing that will soon include additional phases of low-cost convenience for universities, students and merchants alike."

"Since it's inception in 1889, Slippery Rock University has been on the leading edge of educational innovations," Robert Smith, president of the university, said in a prepared statement. "We are excited to partner with Heartland Payment Systems to implement this new technology and know that it will deliver a level of speed and convenience our students demand."

The new mobile phone tokens incorporate the same standards-based contactless technology (ISO 14443) used worldwide by MasterCard, Visa and leading card issuers in the payment and identity sectors.