The University of Tennessee announced plans Thursday to expand VolCard payment options to vendors on Cumberland Avenue. Vice Chancellor for Finance Chris Cimino said he expects the changes to be implemented by the end of May.

“We’re excited about it,” Cimino said. “It’s something that students have asked for a while. It took some time to put this in place. We’ve got contracts and equipment and so forth that we have to negotiate and get in place.”

Cumberland Avenue vendors hoping to accept VolCard payment must first purchase equipment capable of scanning the university card through a third party vendor. Owners would be responsible for paying a flat rate for the machines, as well as a transactional charge for each item purchased with a VolCard.

University restrictions will apply, however, as alcohol, tobacco products and lottery tickets cannot be purchased with a VolCard. Student’s Dining Dollar accounts would also not be accepted at non-university locations.

A list of participating vendors is not currently available, though Cimino said he expects most of the vendors across Cumberland Avenue to sign up for eligibility, as well as locations within University Commons.

For Joe Burger, owner of the Cumberland Avenue McDonald’s, the announcement came as something of a shock.

“They haven’t even contacted me yet,” Burger said of the press release. “They’re supposed to call us, the merchants, and tell us what we need to do, but I have never been contacted once for this.”

Cimino maintained that the university was “currently in the process of sending notices out to all the merchants” while details of the plan were finalized.