Using Your OneCard

All Swarthmore College students, faculty, and staff are required to have a OneCard. You will receive a physical OneCard when you come to campus and you may also sign up for your Digital OneCard to access most OneCard accessible services (with the exception of vending machines and the libraries, where you will still have to use your physical card). Your physical and digital OneCard are the same card, and will have the same ID number. They are just different avenues to access your meals, points, and Garnet Cash. Both physical and digital versions function as your identification card and grant you access to a range of facilities and services, allowing you to move through campus with ease.

Please note that Swarthmore alumni, emeriti, retirees, and affiliates will also need a OneCard if they wish to use certain campus services.

With your OneCard, you can pay for on- and off-campus dining, access administrative and residential buildings including the Matchbox fitness facility, and use Swarthmore’s network of libraries. The OneCard opens doors (literally), so be sure to keep it on you at all times!

Please keep in mind that all rights and privileges associated with your OneCard are non-transferable, and that once issued a OneCard, you are personally responsible for all financial and business transactions conducted with your OneCard. If you wish to purchase something for someone else, you must be present at the time of purchase. You are not permitted to share access privileges with anyone else

Getting a new or replacement card

Your first physical OneCard will be issued to you when you join the Swarthmore community. If your card is defective or does not work, you can receive a replacement card free of charge. If you lose or break your card, the fee for a replacement is $15.

You can visit the OneCard Office in Parrish 131A during normal business hours (Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.). When the OneCard office is closed, you can get a temporary OneCard from Public Safety, then visit the OneCard Office the next business day to obtain your replacement card.

In order for your card to function properly, please do not punch holes in it, mark, bend, or scratch the magnetic stripe, tamper with the barcode, or place stickers on it.

To add your Digital OneCard to your phone’s mobile wallet and find information on updating your card when you get a new phone, please see our Digital OneCard FAQs.

Reporting Lost or Stolen Cards

Immediately report a lost or stolen card to the OneCard Office at 610-328-7362. If the OneCard office is closed, you can contact Public Safety at x8333 (on campus) or 610-328-8333 (off campus). You can also report your card as lost by logging in to the OneCard Center.

If you find someone else’s card, please return it immediately to the OneCard Office in Parrish 131A or Public Safety in the Benjamin West House.

If you have lost your iPhone and need to disable your Digital OneCard, you should use Find My iPhone to suspend or deactivate your Digital OneCard in Apple Wallet. Please visit Instructions for Lost/Found Apple devices and Find My iPhone for more information. You should also contact the OneCard Office during business hours (M-F, 8:30-4:30) to notify us to deactivate the card in the Wallet for that device.You can reactivate a found device that was suspended via iCloud.com or contact the OneCard Office during their office hours if deactivated by the OneCard Office.

If you have lost your Android device and need to disable your Digital OneCard, log into the OneCard Center and select Mark Card as Lost to disable or re-enable your Digital OneCard.

Temporary Cards

If you do not have your OneCard with you, you can visit the OneCard Office in Parrish 131A during normal business hours (Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) and we can issue you a temporary card, which must be returned within 3 business days. When the OneCard office is closed, you can get a temporary OneCard from Public Safety in Ben West House and then visit the OneCard Office to re-activate your old OneCard.

OneCard Center

The OneCard Center is where you go to check your account balance for any meals or funds you have on your card, see your spending history, review card access permissions and recent access history, report your card lost or found, update your ID photo, and more. When you log in to the Center and enter your Swarthmore credentials, you will see links to access your balance and other resources on the sidebar menu.

You can also check your balance for meals, points, and Garnet Cash online by logging into the GET website or app, or at any campus dining point of sale by asking the cashier to check it for you. If you have a Digital OneCard on your iPhone, you will also be able to view your balance there.

Setting up Balance Alerts

You can easily set up OneCard alerts so you don’t have to worry about a low balance or keeping track of your transactions. You have the ability to adjust various automated alert settings such as the threshold for which you receive a low balance alert, transaction alerts, and the method by you prefer to receive the alerts (email or text). You can set up custom alerts via both the GET website (in Settings) and in the OneCard Center (in Notification Preferences).

Garnet Cash

Garnet Cash is a prepaid declining balance account accessed with your OneCard. With Garnet Cash, your OneCard functions like a debit card. Garnet Cash can be used at any campus dining or retail location (the Dining Center, Essie Mae’s, Science Center Coffee Bar, Kohlberg Coffee Bar, Paces Cafe, the Post Office, and the Campus & Community Store). Garnet Cash can also be used at any of the participating off-campus merchants and at all campus vending machines. Please note that Student Garnet Cash is not associated with your meal plan.

To add Student or Faculty & Staff Garnet Cash to your account, you must do so through the GET website. You can also add Garnet Cash through the GET mobile app, which you can download on your Apple or Android device.

Reimbursements

Purchases made with your OneCard should be used for your own personal consumption only. The OneCard should not be used for purchases where you expect reimbursement from Swarthmore College (e.g. food and supplies for an event or meeting). The College will not accept these types of reimbursements, and will not reimburse the individual or department for such requests