A bill recently approved by the Ohio House Consumer Affairs Committee would prohibit colleges and universities from selling student information to credit card companies and prevent soliciting current students on college campuses.
If the bill becomes law, colleges and universities would be able to maintain agreements with credit card companies that involve alumni information, but couldn't disclose that of current students, said Rep. Matt Lundy, D-Elyria.
Although the Ohio University Alumni Association currently has a seven-year contract with Bank of America, the association only discloses the names and addresses of alumni, said Connie Romine, associate executive director for the association.
The revenue collected in the agreement with the association benefits the Ohio University Foundation. The foundation will collect at least $375,000 by the time the agreement ends in 2014, according to the contract.
OU Athletics also partners with Citizens Bank, which is authorized to promote its services at athletic events, said Dan Hauser, associate athletics director for Marketing, Promotions and External Operations.
Although OU does not directly provide credit card companies with student names and addresses, information in the student directory is public and can be accessed by credit card companies, said Ryan Lombardi, dean of students.
In 2008, OU received more than 100 requests for student or faculty and staff information from businesses, including banks, and other organizations.
Credit card companies easily can circumvent solicitation restrictions by accessing the student directory or marketing off-campus, said Deborah Thorne, an OU professor of sociology.
When (credit card companies) set up on Court Street they have access to essentially all the students anyway
she said. They work in conjunction with some of the sandwich shops.
Credit card vendors frequently do not clearly explain to students that they actually are applying for a credit card when they participate in promotions that offer a free meal in exchange for student information, Thorne said.
One of the dilemmas is that the folks that (credit card companies) tend to hire to distribute the solicitations are quite ignorant about the policies and the fine print she said. It's disingenuous because students are signing up for the credit card.
Under Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act, it is illegal to market credit cards to consumers without clearly explaining the consequences of the promotion to the consumer, said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.
Since 2007, the state has filed three complaints concerning credit card promotional events that took place on or around The Ohio State University campus, including a Citibank promotion at Potbelly Sandwich Works.
If they're going to solicit you for a credit card that should be clearly explained
Cordray said. It stands as a precedent on behalf of our office. If we run across those situations we will investigate them
try to get them righted and if necessary take them to court.
In Athens, some businesses, such as Quiznos and Pita Pit, no longer host credit card promotions because of the techniques used by marketers.
It just seemed like it was tricking a lot of people
said Brad Metzler, the owner of Pita Pit, 8 N. Court St. It just didn't feel right.
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Meghan McNamara
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