Venues accept UCLA ID card

Students won’t need to pack their wallets to get a bite to eat at a local restaurant or pick up school supplies at an off-campus drug store, as an increasing number of Westwood businesses have begun accepting BruinCards as a form of payment.

Baja Fresh is the newest Westwood merchant to join the list of businesses that accept BruinCards. The restaurant installed the equipment to accept cards on Friday, said Michelle Patten, marketing director for Baja Fresh.

“We want to get more involved in UCLA,” Patten said. “We thought that we’d give the BruinCard a try.”

Tengu, a sushi restaurant in Westwood Village, also recently began accepting BruinCards near the beginning of fall quarter and has experienced a slow start with students coming in to dine, said Donna Galdjie, Tengu’s marketing director.

“We’re in the UCLA area, and up until now we haven’t tried to target UCLA students,” Galdjie said. “We decided to try to reach out to them to see what kind of response we would get.”

Galdjie finds that students are very happy to find out that they can use their BruinCards at Tengu.

The BruinCard office does little to promote the businesses that accept EasyPay, the money loaded onto BruinCards, besides putting a list on its Web site and a flier in the office, Galdijie said.

Emerald Woodland, a second-year political science and African American studies student, only realized off-campus businesses take BruinCards when she recently received an e-mail advertising a doctor’s office and restaurant that accepts them.

Many students, however, said they prefer to use other forms of payment over their BruinCards.

During his first year, Raj Sidhu, a third-year physiological science student, used to pay with his BruinCard at Chipotle but stopped once he got a credit card. Marie Cross, a second-year psychology student, said she would like to use her BruinCard at off-campus restaurants, but she often doesn’t know which ones accept it.

“I’ve used it at CVS before because it’s a more convenient way to bring money with me than to figure out cash and credit cards,” Cross said.

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse has accepted BruinCards for the past couple of years, marketing itself to the UCLA population.

“I’d imagine (we began accepting BruinCards) to entice more people to come with ease of payment,” said Jennifer Black, BJ’s dining manager.

In order for merchants to be able to accept BruinCards, they must have specific equipment that enables them to take EasyPay. The BruinCard Office lists estimates for the equipment as ranging from a total of $212 to $533.

The office retains a 4 percent commission fee from all purchases when businesses accept BruinCards, said Nancy Tran, the operations manager for the BruinCard program.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory recently went through an ownership change and decided against continuing to accept BruinCards as it didn’t have the necessary technology.

Brad Sills, the owner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, said he does not plan on purchasing the VeriFone technology as very few students have come in asking if they can use their BruinCards in his store.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is another Westwood merchant that does not take EasyPay.

Joe Martinez, a shift supervisor at the Coffee Bean, said he would like to see the cafe start accepting BruinCards as students comprise a significant part of the restaurant’s clientele.

“I think it would have a major impact because a lot of the time students are broke, so they don’t have cash and just have their BruinCard,” Martinez said.

California Pizza Kitchen also does not accept BruinCards. Anthony Reyes, the local CPK’s general manager, said he would be interested in looking into the option.

“CPK is always looking to work with the community, so that is something that is worth exploring,” Reyes said.

Yellow Cab, a taxi service, is an expected new addition to businesses in the area that accept BruinCards, Tran said.