Eating & Drinking| BlueCard and FH Karte
Paying with your student ID
As Student of RWTH Aachen or FH Aachen you pay with your electronic student ID, your BlueCard or FH Karte. You top up your card with cash at the machines in the dining halls. There are machines in Mensa Academica where you can top up the card with a debit or credit card. In order to pay your meal you put the card on the reader at the checkouts and the amount is debited automatically.
We also offer you to top up your BlueCard or FH Karte via AUTOLOAD. With the automatic charging system your card gets loaded without cash at the checkouts of our dining facilities.
Here we answer the most frequently asked questions about payment with BlueCard and FH Karte:
There are card loading terminals in all dining facilities. At the balance readers you can check the current amount on your card any time.
You can top up your card with a maximum amount of 75 €. Please mind that the card terminals do not give any change.
During the current contractual relationship between Studierendenwerk and the cardholder, there is no entitlement to payment of the card balance in accordance with the current German Banking Act. The claim can only be asserted after the deactivation of BlueCard/FH Card by the university, for example after exmatriculation. The limitation period begins at the end of the year in which the card was last used and is three years. After that, the remaining credit expires. Payouts are made exclusively at the Infopoint of the Studierendenwerk.
If you have a BlueCard or FH Karte without chip you can pay by Student Guest Card. These cards are available at the terminals in our dining halls for a deposit of 2 € (plus 3 € minimum loading amount). On presentation of your student ID you pay the student price.
If your card gets lost or damaged, you will receive a new one at the service desks of RWTH or FH.
The Infopoint of Studierendenwerk Aachen transfers the money from a lost or damaged BlueCard to the new one.
The balance of an FH Karte is transferred automatically as soon as the new card is put into one of the terminals.
The BlueCard and FH Karte are chip cards on which only the balance and the card number are saved. No personal data is recorded.
For questions regarding your balance please ask the Infopoint located in Mensa Academica. You can also send an email to servicedesk@stw.rwth-aachen.de.
The Infopoint checks your balance, answers your questions and transfers the remaining balance from a lost or damaged card to your new one.
Before it can be used for paying in our dining halls, the FH Karte has to be activated in two steps:
1. Enter the activation code you received together with your FH Karte on https://services.fh-aachen.de.
2. In order to activate the payment function you just need to insert the FH Karte into a card loading terminal. The terminals are located in all dining halls. After having loaded your card you can pay with it in all dining facilities
Guests who do not study or who do not pay the social contribution to any German Studierendenwerk pay with the Guest Card. It costs 2 €.
In the RWTH area guest cards are available in Mensa Academica at Infopoint and in Mensa Vita and the Caffè-Bar Vita, Bistro Templergraben, Mensa Ahornstraße and C-Caffè at the cashdesk.
In the FH area guest cards are available at the cash desk of Mensa Eupener Straße, Mensa Bayernallee, Mensa Goethestraße and Mensa Jülich. Please note that the deposit of €2 is to be paid.
Guest Card holders pay a fee on all subsidized menus.
Balance refund
Card balances may be paid off at any time. However, the card is then permanently blocked and loses its validity. The period of limitation is three years. The limitation period begins at the end of the year and is 3 three years. Payouts are made exclusively at the Infopoint of Studierendenwerk.
Students of RWTH Aachen receive a BlueCard as student identity card. BlueCard holders can refer to the RWTH BlueCard Service Point (located in the SuperC buidling) when a card gets lost or damaged.
Students of FH Aachen can receive an FH Karte as student identity card on request. Information about the card can be found at Servicestelle FH Karte.