By MATTHEW DOLAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 26, 2004
NORFOLK — On the Harry S. Truman, as the commercial says, there are some things money can’t buy.
Best to amend that now: Money can’t buy you a thing on the Truman.
That’s because the Norfolk-based flattop, which returned home Sunday, is the Navy’s first cashless carrier.
For the past two months, more than 5,000 sailors and Marines carried a debit-only MasterCard at sea. The red-white-and-blue cards were loaded with cash by sailors, who transferred money from their personal bank accounts by using one of five automated teller machines on board.
On the Truman, where the slogan was already, “The buck stops here,” even the chapel’s collection plate is gone.
The Harry S. Truman is one of 24 Navy ships that no longer use cash on board.
CARD FACTS:
Sailors transfer money from their bank accounts by using one of five automated teller machines on board.
To make a purchase, they put the card in an electronic reader that looks like a calculator. After punching in a personal access code and the amount of the purchase, the sale is complete.
Everything on board that used to take cash and coins – even the chapel collection plate – now takes only plastic.
Worshippers donate electronically on their way in and out of services with a swipe of their card.
“We couldn’t be any happier with the program,” said Cmdr. John King, the Truman’s supply officer.
A sailor making a purchase on the aircraft carrier sticks a card in an electronic reader that looks like a calculator. After punching in a personal access code and the amount of the purchase, the sale is complete.
Every place dollars and cents had been used before – from the vending machines on the mess decks to the ship store to the ticket booth at the carrier’s recreation department – now takes only plastic.
With the card, sailors at sea can receive pay, access home bank and credit union accounts, transfer and withdraw money , and make purchases.
King said many of the cost controls associated with handling million of dollars in cash for retail sales have disappeared. The carrier used to carry $250,000 in coins, largely to feed the vending machines.
“There were some people who were skeptical when we first started,” he said. “Now we have very few naysayers.”
In fact, he added, sales using the debit cards have risen about 20 percent on the Truman’s cruises this year when compared with historical numbers. The Truman completed two months at sea on Sunday as part of a large-scale deployment for seven carriers around the world.
When the carrier pulled into ports like Naples, Italy , Petty Officer 2nd Class Cather Bohannon didn’t head to the currency exchange with a wad of bills.
Instead, she said she stuck the new card in an ATM in town, taking out euros instead of dollars to buy souvenirs at the Hard Rock Cafe in Rome.
“I think it has great advantages for sailors,” said Bohannon, 36. “You can find out your balance right there.”
By leaps and bounds, the military is turning to the power of plastic, following a similar trend in civilian life. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2003, for the first time, Americans purchased more goods and services with credit cards than with cash or checks.
New smart identification cards also let sailors carry their essential medical history and other information embedded in a microchip.
The Navy is moving ahead full steam with the cashless fleet. Last month, the Naval Supply Systems Command, in conjunction with the federal Department of the Treasury, announced that the program would be expanded to a total of 175 ships over the next four years.
It started in April 2001 on the fast frigate Rentz based in San Diego. Over the next two years, the pilot program grew to include eight ships representing six ship classes.
This year, 16 additional ships, including the Truman and the carrier Ronald Reagan, drained their coffers, too.
More than 25,643 “Navy/Marine Cash” cards are currently issued on 24 ships, with $27 million processed since the program’s inception.
More than 5.7 million transactions have been completed with nary a penny changing hands.
According to Scott Nester, a chief petty officer on the Truman, the money collected on the carrier used to take people working in shifts around the clock to count and process.
“Now, it’s all done electronically, so I can use those two people elsewhere in my operations,” he said, according to a Navy news release.
If a sailor loses a card and reports it missing, the account can be frozen within the ship in five minutes and ashore within 24 hours, according to J.P. Morgan Chase, the financial institution working with the Navy on the card program.
If the card is not reported lost or stolen, the sailor would only be liable for $25, despite the $1,000 maximum they can keep on the card.
In a Navy where sailors rotate out of their jobs every two to three years, they can take their cards with them to their new commands.
But the cashless lifestyle might take some adjustment in a Navy filled with centuries-old traditions. Cmdr. Doyle Dunn, the Truman’s chaplain, said that chapel donations were down at least 50 percent after the carrier went cashless.
Now the contributions – about $2,000 a month, all of which go to charity – are coming back up as sailors get more comfortable with technologically advanced tithing.
“Before, there was no way to get change,” added Dunn, who doesn’t miss the triple-checking once involved in tracking cash donations. “Now they can give just as much as they need to give.”
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=73532&ran=225892
© July 26, 2004
NORFOLK — On the Harry S. Truman, as the commercial says, there are some things money can’t buy.
Best to amend that now: Money can’t buy you a thing on the Truman.
That’s because the Norfolk-based flattop, which returned home Sunday, is the Navy’s first cashless carrier.
For the past two months, more than 5,000 sailors and Marines carried a debit-only MasterCard at sea. The red-white-and-blue cards were loaded with cash by sailors, who transferred money from their personal bank accounts by using one of five automated teller machines on board.
On the Truman, where the slogan was already, “The buck stops here,” even the chapel’s collection plate is gone.
The Harry S. Truman is one of 24 Navy ships that no longer use cash on board.
CARD FACTS:
Sailors transfer money from their bank accounts by using one of five automated teller machines on board.
To make a purchase, they put the card in an electronic reader that looks like a calculator. After punching in a personal access code and the amount of the purchase, the sale is complete.
Everything on board that used to take cash and coins – even the chapel collection plate – now takes only plastic.
Worshippers donate electronically on their way in and out of services with a swipe of their card.
“We couldn’t be any happier with the program,” said Cmdr. John King, the Truman’s supply officer.
A sailor making a purchase on the aircraft carrier sticks a card in an electronic reader that looks like a calculator. After punching in a personal access code and the amount of the purchase, the sale is complete.
Every place dollars and cents had been used before – from the vending machines on the mess decks to the ship store to the ticket booth at the carrier’s recreation department – now takes only plastic.
With the card, sailors at sea can receive pay, access home bank and credit union accounts, transfer and withdraw money , and make purchases.
King said many of the cost controls associated with handling million of dollars in cash for retail sales have disappeared. The carrier used to carry $250,000 in coins, largely to feed the vending machines.
“There were some people who were skeptical when we first started,” he said. “Now we have very few naysayers.”
In fact, he added, sales using the debit cards have risen about 20 percent on the Truman’s cruises this year when compared with historical numbers. The Truman completed two months at sea on Sunday as part of a large-scale deployment for seven carriers around the world.
When the carrier pulled into ports like Naples, Italy , Petty Officer 2nd Class Cather Bohannon didn’t head to the currency exchange with a wad of bills.
Instead, she said she stuck the new card in an ATM in town, taking out euros instead of dollars to buy souvenirs at the Hard Rock Cafe in Rome.
“I think it has great advantages for sailors,” said Bohannon, 36. “You can find out your balance right there.”
By leaps and bounds, the military is turning to the power of plastic, following a similar trend in civilian life. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2003, for the first time, Americans purchased more goods and services with credit cards than with cash or checks.
New smart identification cards also let sailors carry their essential medical history and other information embedded in a microchip.
The Navy is moving ahead full steam with the cashless fleet. Last month, the Naval Supply Systems Command, in conjunction with the federal Department of the Treasury, announced that the program would be expanded to a total of 175 ships over the next four years.
It started in April 2001 on the fast frigate Rentz based in San Diego. Over the next two years, the pilot program grew to include eight ships representing six ship classes.
This year, 16 additional ships, including the Truman and the carrier Ronald Reagan, drained their coffers, too.
More than 25,643 “Navy/Marine Cash” cards are currently issued on 24 ships, with $27 million processed since the program’s inception.
More than 5.7 million transactions have been completed with nary a penny changing hands.
According to Scott Nester, a chief petty officer on the Truman, the money collected on the carrier used to take people working in shifts around the clock to count and process.
“Now, it’s all done electronically, so I can use those two people elsewhere in my operations,” he said, according to a Navy news release.
If a sailor loses a card and reports it missing, the account can be frozen within the ship in five minutes and ashore within 24 hours, according to J.P. Morgan Chase, the financial institution working with the Navy on the card program.
If the card is not reported lost or stolen, the sailor would only be liable for $25, despite the $1,000 maximum they can keep on the card.
In a Navy where sailors rotate out of their jobs every two to three years, they can take their cards with them to their new commands.
But the cashless lifestyle might take some adjustment in a Navy filled with centuries-old traditions. Cmdr. Doyle Dunn, the Truman’s chaplain, said that chapel donations were down at least 50 percent after the carrier went cashless.
Now the contributions – about $2,000 a month, all of which go to charity – are coming back up as sailors get more comfortable with technologically advanced tithing.
“Before, there was no way to get change,” added Dunn, who doesn’t miss the triple-checking once involved in tracking cash donations. “Now they can give just as much as they need to give.”
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=73532&ran=225892