As the time approaches for professors to welcome new students and Sanford Stadium to welcome new fans, the 32,000 daily users of Bulldog Bucks are welcoming a new deposit system.

The new system – which no longer allows students to deposit cash at any of the nine Bulldog Bucks “ATMs” on campus – was developed to streamline the deposit system, said Bill McGee, manager of UGACard Services and Bulldog Bucks.

Under the new system, students’ options for depositing money include secure online transfers and in-person cash and check deposits at the Bursar’s Office.

The charge for making online deposits with credit cards will remain the same – 2.75 percent with a $3 minimum.

The new system will unify the financial system, improve customer service and increase security, McGee said.

Even if the added security was breached, very little of a student’s information would be available, McGee said.

“All we really store is the name, student number and e-mail.”

With the new deposit method, McGee said he hopes to see students’ use of Bulldog Bucks increase, despite the recession.

“We saw a pretty short dip [in use] in November, and for December we were back up at 19 percent,” he said. “At this point, we’ve equaled our numbers from last year and started to surpass them.”

With new students coming to campus every week for orientation, new Bulldog Bucks accounts are constantly being opened.

“We’re getting several hundreds of deposits a day, which is considerably good considering the number of students we’re getting at orientation,” McGee said.

“We’ve had close to 1,000 deposits since June 1. In the first 24 hours after orientation we’re getting 80 percent [of new students].”

Unlike a credit card, students cannot run up any debt using Bulldog Bucks.

When a deposit request is made, the money is not available until it has been paid through Student Accounts.

McGee said students with parking tickets and other balances on their accounts can make deposits without the money being applied to their balance.

If students request a deposit, but realize they do not have the money to make the deposit, they will be able to reverse the request.

“I’m proud of this system,” he said.

The Bursar’s office is not the beneficiary of the new deposit system, said Bursar Lisa McCleary.

“We’re just doing our jobs, doing what we can to help the students,” she said.