Pushback against ICU Orders: “Why do we need an app for everything?”
Students and bartenders say the new system is more cumbersome than the card-based identification it replaced.
In September 2025, Imperial College Union (ICU) introduced a new mobile application, ICU Orders, which allows students to obtain discounts and other benefits across its catering venues, such as FiveSixEight in Beit Quad. ICU’s till system, which is different to the College’s, is unable to verify student status via college cards – before the app’s introduction, students would show bartenders their College cards to obtain a discount.
According to the ICU’s commercial update from 4th November 2025, the reasons ID-based verifications were phased out in favour of a new app are threefold: “Verify student status automatically for discounts”, “Offer 25% off all food and drink for Imperial students”, and “Capture data to help us improve menus, offers, and event design”. The change comes as part of a three-tier pricing system, where prices are discounted for students, “standard” for staff and “increased” for external customers.
A representative for ICU said, “Due to system constraints, there was no way of scanning a college card to apply the discount, so it was a manual process. We deemed that this could lead to the application of the discount being inconsistent, so to ensure that all applicable customers received the discount consistently we would have to find an automated way to do so. This, in combination with the potential of a loyalty function for our students was the reason why we decided to go with the app.”
“We are under contract with our current supplier but are exploring all options moving forwards,” the representative added.
ICU Orders also allows students to opt for a “cashless system” by registering their credit card within the app.
Since its release, however, the app has met significant backlash among students. A poll run on Felix’s Instagram account found that of 264 respondents, 72% found it “worse” than showing College IDs, with 21% of “indifferent” respondents, and only 7% finding it “better”. (Whether all respondents were legitimate users of the app was not verified.)
One follower called the app “pointless and stupid”, another said it made things “so much more complicated and time consuming,” and multiple added they couldn’t see what benefits it brought compared to the previous system.
A representative for the ICU said: “We recognize that the ICU Orders app is not functioning at the level we want it to be, and we have been working in the background to make improvements and explore alternatives.”
“Why do we need an app for everything?” Jack Swires, the Royal College of Science Union (RCSU) President, asked. “Not wishing to sound like an old man, but it’s utterly infuriating to have to submit my information to yet another app, sign up, and log in repeatedly, just to get a student discount.” ICU Orders comes on top of preexisting Imperial College apps, including SafeZone for security emergencies and MyImperialCampus for campus services and lecture attendance.
“I think it’s a strange move to introduce a digital system when people can just show their Imperial IDs,” Aidan Madge, the City and Guilds College Union (CGCU) Clubs and Societies Chair, told Felix. “It takes the bartender and students a lot of time to use the app, and now my data is stored on yet another platform that could get hacked. I also found it strange that the system shows my details to the bartender when I scan my QR code, I was never warned that would happen when I joined the app.”
A FiveSixEight student part-time worker confirmed that bartenders could see student’s first and last names. He called the new system “a pain the ass”, saying that some costumers “don’t even have it installed” and added that “even when they do, the app takes time to load”. One student told Felix the app “makes the Union more crowded when you’re ordering”.
Swires reported a number of additional concerns. “Alumni I know of are delighted by the app,” he said. “It means they can use the screenshot that they got off one student to get loads of student discounts for them and their mates. What an excellent system! If only we had a piece of plastic with us at all times which proved, we were students which we could use instead…”
Interviews with FiveSixEight bartenders and regular customers suggest that QR-code sharing is standard practice at the venue. A representative for ICU said the three-tier pricing enabled by the app was “in line with our strategic objective of creating more affordable places on campus for our members to enjoy. With this in mind, it is to the students’ best interest to not share their QR codes with non-students and non-staff.”
“I have heard some people complain that they don’t have storage on their phone… which I think is a rubbish excuse,” Swires added, “but I’ve still heard it a number of times. I think there is, however, a possibility that students may not have a device they can use. Can we really assume students have portable electronics?”
There are unconfirmed reports that some international students struggle to install the app on their phones. The terms & conditions from ICU Orders mention that “certain mobile devices may not support the App, in which case you will not be able to use it.”
A loyalty system integrated within the app is “currently in development”, with points to be accrued and redeemed to the value of one pence per point “against certain purchases”. There will be no limit to the number of loyalty points held on the account, but these can be removed if not redeemed within 12 months – and, by deleting the app, users “may forfeit” any points or money held on it.
The terms and conditions also state that “the Union can cancel or withdraw the App and/or the Scheme […] for any reason at any time.”
Multiple students appeared concerned about the way their data was used. One told Felix: “Feels like another mechanism to track data on individuals.” The app may collect unencrypted data on user’s location, personal, and financial information, but ICU declared that no data was shared with third parties.
The “Privacy Policy” tab of the ICU Orders app redirects to ICU’s Privacy Policy webpage, on which links inviting users to read more about “Data Protection Policy”, “Data Breach” and “Subject Access Requests” all redirected to 404’s until mid-January, although this bug was later fixed.
A representative for ICU said, “We value our members’ feedback and appreciate everyone taking the time to highlight issues. We would encourage all members to reach out to us with any further questions or feedback on icu.venues@imperial.ac.uk. We would also encourage them to join our next Commercial Advisory Group Meeting on the 23rd of February, with more information available here."
