While the new Panther Cards all students need to pick up will have a new feel and a new look, they will still serve the same purposes.

Incoming freshmen and transfer students who took a picture at summer orientation and previous cardholders can pick up their new Panther Cards at the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Students do not need to bring their old Panther Cards, but photo identification is required, Clay Hopkins, director of information and technology services, said Thursday. Bank services and dining services also can be activated or reactivated at that location.

Staff will distribute cards between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. through Aug. 28 or from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Students who have never owned a Panther Card, who have never taken a photograph or any students who fail to pick up their new cards by Aug. 28 should go to the Telecommunication Office located at the Telecom/Security building to receive their new cards.

The first card for every student is available free of charge. However, students still will pay the same fees for lost, stolen or damaged cards. A lost or stolen replacement card costs $20 and a damaged card costs $10, Hopkins said.

The harder, less bendable structure of the new cards may mean fewer problems for students. Many Panther Card holders complained of defects when their old cards bent, broke or faded over time.

“The new cards are made out of more durable material, but we still highly recommend students keep them in a wallet to protect them,” Hopkins said.

The switch was prompted after the previous Panther Card vendor, CyberMark, went out of business unexpectedly in mid-June. Eastern signed a five-year, $100,000 agreement with DebitTech, the national firm that already provided Eastern with most of its Panther Card equipment. Eastern’s contract with CyberMark cost Eastern over $500,000, but because DebitTech already provides the university with equipment and services, the new card contracts cost considerably less.

“This is basically a continuation of existing services,” Hopkins said. “All the services will still be available, but (students) should get their cards as soon as possible. We won’t be able to accept the old cards anywhere.”

He said some offices on campus, like the Student Recreation Center which will honor old identification cards until Sept. 2, will offer grace periods for students to obtain new cards. However, old cards will not be honored at food service, in any laundry or vending machines, cash stations, the Booth Library or in card reading equipment.