Frequently Asked Questions

Contact the OneCard Office at 815-753-9569 or email us at onecard@niu.edu. For business hours and walk-in check out our Contact page.

If you are receiving a "Username or Password was incorrect" error when logging into eAccounts' ZID/AccountID login screen, please follow these steps:

• On the top right-hand side of the screen, select add account (+)
• Select Northern Illinois University as the school
• Select SSO Login

Since mobile OneCard is utilized across campus for various platforms such as dining and door access, some devices might not be able to successfully scan your face in proximity to the device reader. It is recommended to select a alternative multi-factored authentication on your phone.

Yes. In your setting within your eAccounts mobile app, you can turn on Fast Mode (Samsung) or Express Mode (Apple). It allows you to access doors, meals and more without having your device on.

Your Mobile OneCard Number is required to purchase books online using the Book Charge Program, as well ordering food using Grubhub.

1. Navigate to your MyOneCard at go.niu.edu/cardservices.
2. Log in using your Z-ID email
3. Click on Card Services on the top header. You will have the ability to see your card number.
   
   • Your account number begins with a 6.
   • Do not include the leading zeroes.

If your OneCard ID is not working, please either bring your card in to our office during regular business hours or email onecard@niu.edu with full description with what is not working.

Temporary Cards can be issued for:

• Door Access (only if living in residence halls)
  • See your residence hall front desk
  • Return temporary card to front desk (otherwise, new IDs or old ID will not work on doors)
• Dining
  • See dining staff at register
  • Return temporary card to Dining Hall or OneCard Office

Instructions can be found here.

Instructions can be found at password.niu.edu.

A Northern Illinois University OneCard is your campus ID and should be with you at all times while on the NIU Campus.

NIU has two types of OneCard:

1. Mobile: provided to all new students and Faculty/Staff starting in May 2025
2. Physical: provided to all students and Faculty/Staff prior to May 2025
   • NIU is phasing this version out (anyone enrolled or employed with NIU with prior to summer 2025 with physical Card can get mobile at no cost)
   • Limited to those students and faculty/staff without compatible devices

• Identification for NIU all around campus
• Free bus pass
• Door access – both academic and residence halls
• Printing and copying using Anywhere Printers around campus
• How you use your Meal Plan
• How you use your Dining Dollars at (Einstein Bros. Bagels, Starbucks, Qdoba, and More)
• How you use Huskie Bucks on and off campus
• Access Rec Center (free for fee-paying students)
• Athletic Events (free for fee-paying students)
• University Libraries on campus
• Purchasing books online/in store using Book Charge Program (only available to those who have applied for financial aid)

Students: You must be registered in at least one class, or be scheduled for an orientation date in order to start the process for getting your OneCard ID.

Faculty/Staff: You must be currently employed to get a OneCard ID.

Yes, you can get your ID via your mobile device. Please see our getting your OneCard ID page.

If you have never had NIU OneCard, your first ID is Free for enrolled students and new NIU Faculty/Staff.

• Damaged $10 (must turn in old OneCard)
• Lost $20 (no ID turned in)

No. Your mobile works everywhere your physical OneCard works.

Please allow the following time for access to these areas:

• Library Access: 24 hours
• Rec Center Access: 24 hours
• Door Access: 15 minutes
• Meal plan, dining dollars, printing, and Huskie Bucks: Immediately (no delay)

Yes.

For all students enrolled prior to Summer 2025 that have both a physical OneCard and mobile, the OneCard will continue to function after you have added your Mobile OneCard to your device.

Remember, Mobile ID is a privilege and benefit of being part of the NIU community. Anyone found to be misusing their physical or Mobile ID will be subject to the applicable Code of Conduct or HR policies regarding fraud and/or misconduct.

You can update both legal and preferred name changes. See our Mobile OneCard Name Change page with instructions and policy.

Yes.

There are two ways you can accomplish this:

1. Come into the OneCard Office and have a picture taken
2. Submit a photo with the eAccounts app
   • Open the app on your phone
   • Log in
   • Select settings (top right-hand corner)
   • Select Submit ID Photo
   • Follow the steps: remember picture must have same criteria as a state ID

Yes, but only if you do not have the compatibility on your phone to go mobile and will not be on campus.

• Access shuts off (last day of the semester enrolled)
  • Door Access
  • Library Access
  • Meal Plan and Dining dollars
    • Dining dollar balances are lost
    • Bus Access
    • Rec Center unless summer (authorized over summer if enrolled in spring)
  • Huskie Bucks: stays on Account until October or if request refund to Bursar Account (2.5% admin fee assessed)
  • Residential Huskie Bucks: Refunds to Bursar Account

Faculty/Staff

• Access shut off
  • Retirees: day of retirement
  • Resigned: end of day on last day
  • Dismissed: day of dismissal

Huskie Bucks is a prepaid debit program that is used for purchasing food at participating restaurants and vendors, printing, making copies and many other designated services.

No. A Huskie Bucks account and Dining Dollars are totally separate, though they both are on the same NIU OneCard ID.

A Huskie Bucks account is the only way to do personal printing on campus and is accepted at a number of restaurants and places on and around the Northern Illinois University campus.

A Dining Dollars account is purchased from and assigned by Campus Dining Services as a supplement to a student meal plan.

Huskie Bucks are accepted at a number of restaurants and places on and around the Northern Illinois University campus.

A Huskie Bucks debit account can be set up on your OneCard ID at any time during the school year. An account is opened upon depositing funds on your OneCard online or via cash or check (made payable to NIU) at OneCard ID Services or at the Office of the Bursar. For disclosure information, please visit Huskie Bucks Disclosure Information.

There are multiple easy ways to deposit money into a Huskie Bucks account: online, at the OneCard office or at the Office of the Bursar (SP 235), and by mail.

Yes. Both in person and online deposits using American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa cards are accepted. Starting 2 September 2025, a 2.85% convenience fee will be assessed.

Currently, only students living in the residence halls have the opportunity to charge up to $200 to their Bursar account at the beginning of each fall and spring semester. For more information, see our residential huskie bucks page.

Huskie Bucks do not expire, so any unused funds will carry over to the next semester unless you have not used it in over one year. For more information, please visit Huskie Bucks Disclosure Information.

No. Huskie Bucks cannot be used to buy books for classes.

Instead, NIU students receiving financial aid can have an option to charge books and school supplies to their bursar account. Students who have financial aid can use their OneCard ID at the University Bookstore (815-753-1081) to charge the cost of their books and school supplies to their bursar account. This puts the cost on the bill with tuition and housing that is sent home each semester. Only students who have financial aid can utilize this feature.

Yes. However, Huskie Bucks refunds can only be requested upon separation or graduation from the university from accounts in which the remaining balance is $5.13 or more. A 2.5% administration fee is assessed on all Huskie Bucks refunds. Learn more in the Huskie Bucks Disclosure.

• Account balances are currently only displayed on Apple & Samsung Galaxy devices.
• If your account balances are $0, they will not display until funds are added.
• If you have available funds that are not displaying, please contact the OneCard Office at 815-753-9569 or email onecard@niu.edu.

Confirm your device is not in Airplane Mode or experiencing any other service interruption. Updates cannot be made when there is no connecting service to sync data between Transact eAccounts and your device. The Transact eAccounts app will display the most current information.

A negative balance can occur if you make a transaction when a retail device is offline. When the device comes back online and the transaction is posted, you will see a negative balance if there are not enough funds in your account to cover the transaction.

Return to the location of the sale and ask the store to issue a credit card refund, then process the transaction against your OneCard.

• Contact NIU Police at (815)753-1212
  • report any fraudulent activity
  • report it to the department(s) below
• Book charge
  • NIU Book Store at NIU@bkstr.com
• On-campus dining, dining dollars or meal plan
  • Dining at dining@niu.edu
• Off-campus dining purchases or huskie bucks fraud usage
  • OneCard Office at onecard@niu.edu
• Printing
  • Submit ticket with DoIT
    • Select Request Services
    • Select OnBase Inquiry/Request within the Document and Print Management section
    • Enter phone number
    • Enter Detailed Description
      • Date & time of error
      • Printer location if you can include printer #
      • What happened
    • Click Submit button
• Door access
  • Email NIU Police Department at niupd@niu.edu

To reactivate a found device that was suspended, perform the following steps:

In the Transact eAccounts App:

• Click the settings gear in the upper right corner.
• Select the Card Management option.
• Choose the credential you want to reactivate and toggle it on.
• You will receive a confirmation email. Only the selected card will be reactivated.

In the MyOneCard (Transact eAccounts) Web Version:

• Select Card Services
• Select Activate Card
• Select the credential to reactivate
• You will receive a confirmation email. Only the selected card will be reactivated.

When it comes to identity protection, we take your security very seriously. No student (or employee) may have more than one OneCard ID, and once it is replaced, the prior ID is no longer active and removed from the system. To ensure an invalid OneCard ID cannot be used by an unauthorized person, all physical, inactive cards are destroyed to protect you.

No!

When it comes to identity protection, we take your security very seriously. Whether it is a husband, child, or friend's ID, if the card is found in your possession it will be confiscated.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) as amended is a federal law intended to protect the privacy of student educational records accumulated from early childhood through college. FERPA provided parents with certain rights with respect to their children’s educational records. However, once a student reaches the age of 18 or enters college, the rights previously held by the parents transfer exclusively to the student.

Students have the option to delegate information through "Shared Access." Shared Access allows a student to grant, up to two individuals, access to view their student information. The student can grant access to information such as: Academics, Admissions, Financials, Financial Aid and To Do List. Learn how to set up and authorize the release of information. The Office of the Bursar representative would be able to discuss specific account details with the individuals the student has authorized the release of financial information.

Furthermore, FERPA restriction guidelines will not allow NIU offices to disclose the existence of the account if the account has been flagged as "non-disclosure." You may change your non-disclosure status with Registration and Records, or go online via MyNIU. If you do not change your non-disclosure agreement, you will need to come in to the office with a photo ID.

To change/update FERPA restrictions:

1. Navigate to MyNIU
2. Click the NIU Self-Service Quick Links tile
3. Click the FERPA Restrictions link on the left navigation
4. Click "Edit FERPA/Directory Restrictions" button
   
   See the following DoIT KB Article for more information.