The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has partnered with Nexus USA to create a biometrics program that could facilitate a move to a cashless society.

The program uses Nexus’ trademarked Biocryptology, a means of biometric identification through hemoglobin in the blood. A user scans his finger, and the system reads through the print, layers of skin and the hemoglobin. The technology associated with it turns the finger scan into a number string that changes each time the finger is introduced. This number string is then encrypted for security.

Fifty students and four faculty member are participating in the pilot program at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The participants deposit money into an account that’s associated with their biometric data, and they can use these funds to pay for goods at two locations on campus when they complete transactions with their finger scan.