Four Westwood restaurants begin accepting BruinCards

Simplethings, a sandwich and pie shop in Westwood Village, began accepting payments from BruinCards earlier last week. The store is one of four Westwood restaurants to implement the change within the last month.

BruinCard users can deposit money into EasyPay, the prepaid debit feature on the card, to use at the different Westwood locations, including The Veggie Grill, Nékter Juice Bar and ShopHouse.

Carmine Marino, director of UCLA Business and Finance Services, said he signed up new restaurants to the BruinCard pay system to bring more students into Westwood. He said he wanted to make the BruinCard a convenient, secure utility and potentially help international students who are unable to register for other debit or credit cards.

The program already included several Westwood businesses, including CVS Pharmacy, Whole Foods Market and Chipotle Restaurant and Grill, he said.

Merchants who accept BruinCards pay for the $750 reader that swipes the cards. They also forfeit 4 percent of their revenue from BruinCards to cover staff and maintenance costs, Marino added.

Eneida Carrillo, an employee at The Veggie Grill, estimates that 10 percent of student customers have paid with their BruinCards since the implementation a couple weeks ago.

Compiled by Ian Stevenson and Angie Wang, Bruin senior staff.

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