More student discounts available with the new card

While most regular students are accustomed to the modest benefits of the student X-card, which is primarily used for meals in student cafeterias, students could soon enjoy more advantages.

Members of the non-profit student association Akademis have launched the Akademis Card project at over 30 faculties in Zagreb. The Akademis Card is a personalized membership card that allows association members to access discounts in all areas of everyday student life.

Although this project is appearing for the first time in the Zagreb area and at the University from October 24 of this year, it has been successfully operating in Osijek for six years. Although it may initially seem that the most popular student cards, the X-card and the Akademis Card, are competitors, the two cards complement each other. The X-card allows students to have cheaper meals, proves the status of a regular student, and can only occasionally provide discounts outside the student cafeteria. On the other hand, the Akademis card offers numerous discounts to all students, regardless of whether they are regular or part-time students, which are necessary in everyday student life.

Any student can become a cardholder and a member of the Akademis association, without any restrictions. Therefore, it is not necessary to be enrolled as a regular student, as is the case with the X-card.
– This project specifically targets part-time students, who, due to their status, do not have any student rights in this sense. The card is intended for anyone who has proof of enrollment at a faculty, school, or polytechnic, regardless of whether it is a regular or part-time study – explains Branko Paunović, president of the Zagreb branch of the Akademis association. 

With the Akademis card, students can obtain discounts at more than 120 Zagreb project partners. Some of the main partners where students can receive discounts include Taxi Cammeo, Importanne Center, Collegium Travel, American Donut, and Profil-Mozaik bookstores. The percentage of discounts varies depending on the partner, but on average ranges from 20 to 50 percent for discounts in clothing and footwear stores, education, courses, gym services, transportation, and similar services.
For example, Taxi Cammeo will offer Zagreb students the most affordable prices and an additional 10 kuna gift to every new user of the Akademis Card. Since the Akademis Card is also a payment taxi card, the ‘Student Cammeo Card’, upon each top-up at all Tisak kiosks, members of the Akademis association will exclusively receive an additional 15 percent of the deposited amount with each top-up. To activate this service, a first top-up with a voucher of 100 kuna is required (the initial amount on the card will be 125 kuna). After that, amounts can be topped up according to preferences and possibilities, and students can use the service in all cities in Croatia where the mentioned taxi operates.

It is important to note that the Akademis association has exclusive discounts with most partners. This means that there is no other way to obtain discounts with certain partners of this project except with the Akademis card. Along with this card, students will also have access to a mobile application for the iOS system this week, through which they will be able to learn more about places where they can obtain discounts, as well as an interactive map of Zagreb with marked locations of all partners. The application will be available to Android operating system users a few weeks later.
The Akademis card officially started being used in Zagreb on November 12, 2012, and the Zagreb branch of the Akademis association is responsible for launching the project. All interested students can apply for their discount card at booths located at about 30 faculties in Zagreb, and the enrollment period lasts until November 23, 2012. After the enrollment period, students will be able to collect their card at Collegium Travel offices and other project partners. To create the Akademis Card, one photograph, a completed application form, and an annual membership fee of 65 kuna are required.

Through this project, association members aim to reduce the costs of everyday student life, protect student rights, and also provide scholarships for students from lower-income backgrounds. The Osijek branch has been providing scholarships for students for six years, and in Zagreb, scholarships will be issued through the National Foundation for the Support of Student and Pupil Standards, from which five kuna will be allocated from each membership fee. Due to the positive experiences from Osijek, the project organizers view the Zagreb version with much optimism. 

– Since we appeared with booths at Zagreb faculties, we have had an excellent response. This week we are launching the cards into distribution, and by December of this year, we expect several thousand new members – said Paunović.
Preparations for the project were lengthy and arduous – establishing the Zagreb branch, finding partners, and realizing the project took more than five months of effort and work. However, the association does not stop at the project in Zagreb; in collaboration with Raiffeisen Bank, it continues ambitious activities in the next academic year. Thus, the advantages of the Akademis card will soon be felt by students from Split, Pula, and Mostar.
– By the end of 2013, we will launch this project in the mentioned three cities, and in Split, we also have a hostel, so we believe that the offer will be even more interesting for students there – announces Paunović.

Paunović also emphasized that there is no fear of short-term discounts because the association builds long-term cooperation with all partners based on mutual satisfaction and trust.
Due to the great interest from students in this ingenious project, the question arises as to why similar realizations were not achieved earlier? Or why were additional benefits for student standards not secured within the existing X-card?
The Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports claims that the X-card has indeed come to life in the sense that the Akademis Card offers. They believe it is already recognized by service providers, many of whom also give discounts to students. Unlike the Akademis Card, the X-card is issued by higher education institutions as an official public document and is therefore responsible for the accuracy of the data. They support students to work through their organizations to improve student standards, but they believe that in this case, there is no need for a new card alongside the existing official student ID. However, the large response from students and the successful implementation of the Akademis association’s project indicate that this benefit is indeed welcome for student standards.

Without restrictions – The card is also for part-time students
Until now, the only reliefs in student life, through the X-card, were felt only by regular students, but the Akademis Card changes that. The Akademis project has existed for six years in Osijek and is intended for all students, regardless of status, and is now beginning to expand more intensively throughout Croatia. Zagreb students have the opportunity from November 12 to obtain discounts of 20 to 50 percent on bus and taxi transportation services, student travel, book purchases, beauty salon services, and many other benefits through their Akademis card. All students need to do is bring their own photograph, proof of student status, and 65 kuna for the annual membership fee and come to one of the many booths of the association across Zagreb faculties.