Rolling out a smart card or electronic wallet program across a university campus or major corporation can be a massive undertaking. So imagine rolling out a smart card, electronic wallet, debit card, ATM card, and financial management application to an organization with people all over the world who are preoccupied with much more important matters. Did we mention that many of them are on ships in the middle of an ocean?
Welcome to Navy Cash, a program that can be described most tidily as "electronic disbursing," which is changing the way sailors and Marines in the U.S. Navy manage their money and live their lives while on deployment and at home.
Not only does Navy Cash bring the latest in electronic banking to Navy personnel, but it also has an electronic purse function that allows the Navy to implement a "cashless" environment on its ships, replacing coins and dollar bills with values stored on the card. The Navy Cash card itself is a commercially accepted, MasterCard-branded debit card that can be used on ships or shore around the world.
If you're not that familiar with the inner workings of the Navy, then you've probably never thought about how sailors and Marines manage their finances while they are deployed far from home. Since 1988, when the Navy introduced its ATMs-at-Sea program, it hasn't been all that different than the way many civilians do it.
ATMs-at-Sea gave each sailor or Marine an ATM card with a magnetic stripe, not unlike the ones civilians carry. Using the card and ATMs on board their ship, crew members had access to their "split pay." (Think of split pay almost like an allowance. Each member of the Navy can elect to have a certain amount of their pay available to them while deployed.) In 1988, ATMs-at-Sea undoubtedly increased the quality of life for sailors and Marines, but the program did have its limitations. Each magnetic stripe card was ship-specific and accepted only on the sailor's home ship.
ATMs-at-Sea Get an Upgrade
In 1998, facing the issues of Y2K and the rising cost of telecommunications, the Navy decided to upgrade from the ATMs-at-Sea program, according to Barbara Straw, director of disbursing for the Naval Supply Systems Command, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Penn. Ships at sea use satellites to relay information, and the costs associated with transmitting ATM transactions was expected to increase.
Working with J.P. Morgan Chase, which the Department of Treasury appointed as the Treasury Agent Bank responsible for Navy Cash, the Navy developed a commercial card that is accepted globally with both a chip and magnetic stripe. In addition to accessing their split pay, sailors and Marines can access accounts at all banks and credit unions that accept ACH transactions. The card also works at almost 900,000 ATMs around the world and is accepted by some 32 million merchants as a debit card.
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The Navy Cash card (above) can be used to make purchases at vending machines and terminals on board Navy ships (below).
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In April 2001, the Navy Cash system on the frigate USS Rentz was enabled. As a frigate, the Rentz is one of the smallest ships in the Navy fleet and it has one of the least-robust communications systems, making it a good test subject. Under Navy Cash, telecom costs are kept under control because each ship has its own server on board to collect transaction data. Using a process called "batch and forward" the transaction data is collected in the server and relayed once a day by satellite.
On board the USS Rentz, the crew members were in for a change in the way they managed their money. Navy Cash members have three basic ways of using their card. The fully functional card allows members to push pay to their ship or query their home bank and pull money. The split-pay option allows members to have access to their pocket money, much like the old ATMs-at-Sea program. The chip card is the electronic purse that allows members to put money on the card and spend it electronically. The chip card is an important aspect of the program, because without it buying things on board a ship isn't easy. The cash is gone.
"Anywhere they collect money we now do it online and electronically," Straw said. The bill collectors in on-board soda machines were removed and chip readers were inserted. Cashless ATMs appeared. Everyday items like stamps are purchased at the ship's post office using the card.
Losing the cash created a number of efficiencies for the Navy. An aircraft carrier, for example, can sell 250,000 sodas each month through vending machines. Those quarters had to be collected, counted, and turned into the ship's disbursing office. Navy Cash eliminated this labor-intensive work. Accounting and disbursing roles have become so efficient under the new system that a ship's disbursing officer can view the transactions done at one terminal or vending machine on a computer. As for the stamps, the U.S. Postal Service now gets its money from stamp sales sent to its account electronically.
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