Students can save money with texts
November 16, 2009
College Mobile Deals gives students the scoop on cheap food
Students are saving money this semester with electronic coupons sent directly to their cell phones.
College Mobile Deals is a company that distributes daily coupons through text messages to subscribed Kent State students.
The service costs nothing extra for students other than regular text-messaging fees, said Ben Feld, director of business development for College Mobile Deals. “Nowadays, the majority of people have unlimited texting, so there’s usually no charge to anybody.”
Subscribers get one daily coupon for food, tanning or books at a local business. Anyone can get the electronic coupons by texting “Kent” to the phone number 83361.
The free service has caught the interest of 4,000 subscribers in Kent this semester, Feld said.
Matt Welch, freshman pre-medicine major, pays for food every day in Kent as a commuter student.
“Especially since these places (restaurants) are kind of expensive, coupons really help,” Welch said.
The SMS network began as an offshoot of College Discount Cards, a free card with the same type of discounts and coupons sent by the company’s new mobile business venture. Kent State students have been saving money with the cards for 10 years.
“It’s a good complement to that discount card,” Feld said. “We can edit it up until we press the enter button,” Feld said in regards to the speedy delivery of the offers, compared to the lengthy printing process of the cards.
The coupon network company is available at nine other universities across the country, including Arizona State University, University of Kansas and Ohio University.
College Mobile Deals is currently working to create a similar service for alcoholic drinks in Kent. The bar special service is expected to launch next semester under a second subscriber list. Students will text “kentdrinks” to 83361 to sign up for the drink special coupons.
“We are in talks with a lot of the bars downtown,” Feld said. “There’s just nothing in place concrete.”
Students like freshman Ozzie Thomas can’t go to bars. Thomas said he would like to see more diverse coupons for businesses like hookah bars.
“That would be awesome,” Thomas said. “I’m there a lot.”
