The tide of identification technology is changing the way people think about credentials. Popular opinion regarding the use of newer identification solutions, like mobile ID and biometrics, has begun to shift. There may not be a better time for higher education to start exploring the use of biometrics, so tune in to part two of Blackboard’s “Modern Credentials” webinar series detailing biometrics.

Beginning with the new school year, students in the Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 can check out lunch items with their fingerprints rather than their ID cards. Lake Zurich landed on Geneva, Ill.-based biometric startup, PushCoin to provide the solution. A cloud-based, centralized payment system, PushCoin enables a school web store capability, parent portal, administrative site and a point-of-sale app.

Biometric device manufacturer, Credence ID has partnered with West Africa-based integrator Vatebra to implement a biometric student ID project to assist in vetting student identity in Nigeria. The initiative will leverage Credence ID’s CredenceOne mobile fingerprint scanning devices to help mitigate instances of identity fraud in Nigeria’s statewide student testing programs.

Killeen, Texas’ Central Texas College is using Biometric Signature ID’s biometric identification software, BioSig-ID, to verify some 50,000 students for online courses and boost the overall security of online logins.

A camera at St. Mary’s Catholic High School in St. Louis conducts facial recognition for every person that passes through the front and back entrance. The school is located in a high-crime area on the city’s south side, and school administrators were in need of an extra layer of security to complement the regular video monitoring system. The answer was facial recognition.

The use of iris biometrics at Georgia Southern has expanded to include access to the campus rec center following successful adoption at campus dining facilities. Of the university’s total enrollment of 20,500, some 15,000 students have already enrolled in the iris program and in doing so are able to use the system.

Ohio’s Westerville City School District Food Service Department is rolling out biometric finger scanning at several schools throughout the Columbus area. The new fingerprint system is intended to boost the security for student meal accounts, eliminate clerical errors, give students more time to eat lunch and offer them an easy way to identify themselves when paying for their meals in the cafeteria.