Redbird ID

Your Illinois State University ID functions as your meal card and is encoded with three accounts: your meal plan, a flex account and a university debit account (if you choose to deposit money into this account). All three are debit (declining balance) accounts and can be accessed using your ID card. They work like a checking account...you start with a balance and each time you make a purchase, the cashier swipes the ID and the amount of your purchase is subtracted from the balance. The three accounts differ in where they can be used and the amount available. The chart below defines each account.

The table below lists the order in which specific accounts are used at specific locations. The system will check your card and subtract money from the first account listed until the balance equals zero, then it uses the next account, then on to the third. If you don’t have money in one of the accounts, the system will automatically go to the next account. For example, if you use your ID at Subway, the amount of your meal will be subtracted from your flex account first unless you’ve already used up your flex dollars for the semester. In that case, the amount would be subtracted from your dining dollars.