Red Card

What Red Card does

Red Card Media, LLC operates the Red Card Meal Plan, a prepaid dining and food-discount platform that enables account holders to fund a balance used by authorized users — primarily college students — to pay for groceries, food, and beverages at participating restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores in Madison, Wisconsin, with 529 plan reimbursement positioning as a differentiator. The product surface combines a mobile application (iOS and Android) with a physical prepaid card, both linked to a centrally managed account; account holders can fund via credit card, debit card, check, or money order through online, mobile, phone, mail, or in-person channels. Functional features include Auto Reload (scheduled or threshold-based top-ups), Quick Add Value (credential-light reloading), and Value Load Offers that issue in-app coupons from participating Madison merchants (e.g., Adamah Neighborhood Table, Ian's Pizza, Nitty Gritty, Qdoba, Fair Trade Coffee House, Fresh Madison Market) in exchange for qualifying $250 or $500 deposits.

The business model is usage-based on the core prepaid float with supplemental transaction and administrative fees (returned check, card replacement, cancellation, and inactivity) producing breakage and float income. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer, primarily targeting UW–Madison students and their families, with distribution through self-serve sign-up, app-store presence, and organic social channels. After 15 years of operation at UW–Madison, the company announced the wind-down of the campus program effective June 1, 2025, stating the economics were no longer sustainable; refunds are being issued via virtual debit card. The company indicates it will continue supporting student-athletes at more than 100 campuses nationwide, though the scale and active product footprint of those residual operations are not disclosed in available data. Founder and owner Jeff Haupt leads a privately held Wisconsin LLC with no disclosed external funding, parent entity, or acquisition history.

From an investment standpoint, the company is a small, founder-owned, single-campus-concentrated prepaid consumer product whose primary revenue stream has just been terminated; residual activity at unspecified other campuses does not currently provide observable revenue, headcount, or product reinvestment evidence.

Name

Red Card

Legal name

Red Card Media, LLC

Website

https://redcardmealplan.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Red Card Media, LLC operated the Red Card Meal Plan, a prepaid mobile-app and card-based dining discount platform serving UW–Madison students and families at Madison-area restaurants and stores; the program ended June 1, 2025 with refunds via virtual debit card.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prepaid Meal Plan Services

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (522210)

akta.pro primary industry

Residential Dining & Meal Plans (EDALADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Multi-Merchant / Shopping Mall Gift Cards (FSAMANAC), Rewards, Rebates & Program Optimization (Interchange, Supplier-funded) (THACAJAK)

Keywords

• Prepaid meal plans
• Campus dining services
• Student prepaid cards
• Food discount programs
• College payment plans

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Prepaid Value Account: Users deposit monetary value into their Red Card Meal Plan account which is then used to pay for purchases at participating locations. This is the core revenue mechanism.
2. Administrative Fees: Fees charged for specific services including $25 returned check fee, $10 lost/stolen card replacement fee, $15 cancellation fee (after 30 days), and $10/month inactivity fee for accounts unused for 18+ months

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Red Card Meal Plan is a prepaid dining and food discount platform that lets college students and their families fund an account and then spend those funds at participating Madison-area restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores using a mobile app and/or a physical prepaid card. The account accepts deposits via credit card, debit card, check, or money order and includes promotional value load offers that unlock in-app coupons from local merchants.

Product overview

Red Card Meal Plan is a single unified prepaid dining and food discount platform designed for students and families. The core offering consists of the Red Card Meal Plan account, which can be accessed through a mobile app (iOS/Android) and/or a physical prepaid card. Users fund their account via credit card, debit card, check, or money order. The platform includes sub-features such as Auto Reload for automated recurring deposits and Quick Add Value for convenient on-the-go funding. Value Load Offers provide promotional coupons to users who make qualifying deposits. The service operated at UW–Madison for 15 years and served student-athletes at over 100 campuses nationwide before ceasing operations for UW–Madison students as of June 1.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Red Card Meal Plan Prepaid dining and food discount account that enables students and authorized users to purchase groceries, food, and beverages at participating Madison-area restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores using a funded balance.
• Red Card Mobile App

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Adamah Neighborhood TableminorOthersMadison restaurant participating in Red Card Meal Plan value load offers. $250 offer: 50% off one entrée. $500 offer: Buy 1, Get 1 Free Entree.
• Bandit Coffee and TacosminorOthersMadison coffee and taco shop participating in Red Card Meal Plan value load offers. $250 offer: Free Chips & Roja Salsa. $500 offer: $10 off first order of $20 or more.
• Bassett Street Brunch ClubminorOthersMadison brunch restaurant participating in value load offers. $250: Free 16oz Colectivo Coffee or Espresso drink. $500: $5 off after 5pm.
• BP (Store Only - No Gas)minorOthersConvenience store (store only, no gas) participating in value load offers. $250: Free Powerade. $500 offer includes additional benefits.
• Fair Trade Coffee HouseminorOthersMadison coffee shop participating in value load offers. $250: Free short coffee. $500: Free Short Latte.
• FreshFin PokeminorOthersMadison poke restaurant participating in value load offers. $250: $2 off any House-Crafted Bowl, Salad or Seared Selection. $500: $5 off same.
• Fresh Madison MarketminorOthersMadison grocery store participating in value load offers. $250: $5 off purchase of $25 or more.
• Ian's PizzaminorOthersMadison pizza restaurant (Frances St. location) participating in value load offers. $250: Free Slice of Mac and Cheese Pizza. $500: Free Salad.
• MokaminorOthersMadison coffee shop participating in value load offers. $250: Free Small Cool Brew. $500 offer includes additional benefits.
• Nitty GrittyminorOthersMadison restaurant and bar participating in value load offers. $250: 2 For 1 Burgers (Max $10.75). $500: Free Milkshake with any purchase (Max $9.99).
• Pinkus McBride MarketminorOthersMadison market participating in value load offers. $250: Free Arizona Tea or Coffee with purchase of Breakfast Sandwich.
• Qdoba Mexican GrillminorOthersMexican restaurant with two Madison locations (Park St. and State St.) participating in value load offers. $250: Free Chips & Salsa. $500: Free Chips & Queso.
• QuiznosminorOthersSandwich shop (inside BP on Park) participating in value load offers. $250: Free Chips and Drink with Sub purchase.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Olo: Restaurant ordering and payments SaaS used by many chain restaurants for direct digital ordering. Represents the broader restaurant-tech ecosystem that powers the merchant side of campus meal programs.
• Grubhub (Campus Dining): National food ordering and delivery platform with deep campus penetration via university dining partnerships. Represents the modern competitive substitute for a third-party campus prepaid meal plan.
• Blackbaud: Large higher-ed software provider with payments and student commerce products. Adjacent incumbent offering campus payment infrastructure at a much broader scale than Red Card.

Direct peers

• CBORD: Provider of campus card, dining services, and merchant solutions to higher education. Operates the same category of prepaid campus meal plan infrastructure that Red Card attempted at UW-Madison.
• Greenlight: Prepaid debit card and money management app for kids and teens, marketed heavily to parents. Closely comparable to Red Card on the prepaid card + parent-funded + mobile app product mechanics, though with a broader age target.
• Current: Prepaid debit and banking platform targeting teens and young adults with parent-managed funding features. Comparable to Red Card's prepaid card / parent account holder / youth authorized user model.
• Heartland Campus Solutions: Higher education payments and campus commerce provider offering student ID, meal plan, and stored value services. Comparable to Red Card in the campus prepaid / dining payments space.
• Transact Campus: Largest US provider of campus card, meal plan, and tuition payment solutions to universities. Directly comparable to Red Card as a campus-focused prepaid/meal plan platform, but operating at scale across hundreds of institutions rather than a single market.

Emerging players

• Found: Banking and tax platform for self-employed users; thematically adjacent to Red Card in the small-company / small-account fintech space, though targeting a different user segment.
• Step: Mobile-first banking and prepaid card aimed at teens and students. Competes for the same parent-funded youth wallet use case that Red Card targeted with its 529-funded Madison meal plan.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/redcardmealplan
• Facebookfacebook.com/redcardmealplan
• Instagraminstagram.com/redcardmealplan
• TikToktiktok.com/@redcardmealplan
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/red-card-meal-plan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Red Card