ollowing $130 million worth of new financing in October 2005, biometrics payment solution provider Pay By Touch has been on a buying spree. Since then it has purchased, or announced plans to purchase, five other companies.

Pay By Touch got much of the industry's attention three months ago when it outbid CyberSource Corp. for beleaguered third-party processor Card Systems Solutions Inc. (see "Pay By Touch Outbids CyberSource to Acquire CardSystems," The Green Sheet, Nov. 14, 2005, issue 05:11:01). "The acquisition brought Pay By Touch access to CardSystems' 120,000 merchant customers and a direct connection to acquiring banks and ISOs.

Between Dec. 2 and 15, Pay By Touch bought three loyalty and rewards program-related companies: Capture Resource, a rewards program supplier, and 7th Street Software Inc. and Convena LLC, two loyalty technology companies.

It also announced plans to purchase competitor BioPay LLC, which will bring 2 million enrolled users, 1,600 retail locations and more than $7 billion in transaction processing.

"BioPay has perfected an excellent check-cashing solution, and Pay By Touch is making incredible inroads in in-lane payments," said John Rogers, Pay By Touch founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are hand in glove, and together we can provide solutions for retailers and consumers alike." Also during this time, the company announced a partnership with NCR Corp. to combine both companies' hardware and software solutions. Other Pay By Touch partners include Hypercom Corp., Ingenico, VeriFone and Discover Financial Services.

In 2004, Pay By Touch acquired InterCept Payment Solutions, which specializes in card-not-present transactions, and ATM Direct, which specializes in PIN-based debit transactions. Pay By Touch's biometric authentication payment system allows shoppers to pay for purchases with a finger scan, which is tied to their bank accounts and loyalty programs.

The company reports that more than 2 million consumers are using the system at Albertsons, Cub Foods, bigg's, Farm Fresh, Piggly Wiggly, Thriftway and Pick n' Save Metro Market.