News from the Wire

Now Shoppers Can Pay With Their Finger at All Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company Stores

Thursday, May 12, 2005 — 12:07:51 (EDT)

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Pay By Touch today announced that%%Nafter a successful six-month pilot program, Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. has%%Ndecided to deploy a storewide expansion of the Pay By Touch consumer biometric%%Npayment service in its grocery stores throughout South Carolina and Georgia.%%N %%NThe companywide kickoff begins today at stores in the Charleston, SC area,%%Nwith the first transaction happening at a special media event at the 14 Sumar%%NStreet, West Ashley location. By the beginning of June, Piggly Wiggly%%Nshoppers across the two states will be able to pay for groceries with the%%Ntouch of a finger.%%N %%N"We tested Pay By Touch at four stores in South Carolina and found that%%Nour guests loved paying for their groceries with a quick finger-scan because%%Nof the convenience of not having to fumble with wallets at check-out," said%%NRich Farrell, vice president of information services at Piggly Wiggly Carolina%%NCo. "We also found that frequent Pay By Touch users saw Piggly Wiggly as more%%Ndedicated to providing better customer service -- and that is very important%%Nto us."%%N %%NAside from momentous customer support and requests for Pay By Touch in%%Nmore Piggly Wiggly stores, 50 percent of Pay By Touch users surveyed said that%%Nconvenience was the primary benefit of the payment system, with faster%%Ncheckout and speed closely following as close seconds.%%N %%N"Pay By Touch is making great strides in changing the way we pay for%%Nthings today and in the future," said John Rogers, founder, chairman, and CEO%%Nof Pay By Touch. "This is an exciting time for stores like Piggly Wiggly,%%Nwhose customers have already seen the value in using Pay By Touch. We're%%Nhelping to provide customers with a highly secure way to pay while also making%%Nshopping easier and faster."%%N %%NThe one-time Pay By Touch enrollment is simple and takes just a couple of%%Nminutes. Shoppers can enroll at Piggly Wiggly stores at the guest services%%Ncounter, or by visiting www.paybytouch.com. Shoppers select the accounts they want to enroll in a finger-accessed electronic Pay By Touch wallet. These%%Naccounts include Express Checking, which is a direct electronic withdrawal%%Nfrom an existing checking account, and/or any existing major credit cards,%%Nplus their PFC PFC/GREENBAX rewards card.%%N %%NOnce enrolled, shoppers can quickly and securely use their fingers every%%Ntime they pay without the need for cards, IDs, checks, or even a wallet at%%Nparticipating stores across the country such as Thriftway in Seattle, and Pick%%Nn Save Metro Market in Milwaukee, among others. Pay By Touch is planning%%Nrollouts in other national retail chains later this year.%%N %%NThe Pay By Touch technology does not use actual fingerprints; instead, it%%Nuses a set of 40 data points from a finger scan that cannot be reverse%%Nengineered into a fingerprint. The data points are then encrypted to allow for%%Na secure identity match at retail point of sale.%%N%%NAbout Pay By Touch%%NPay By Touch is a biometric payment service free to consumers that allows%%Nshoppers to quickly and securely pay for purchases or cash checks using a%%Nfinger scan linked to their personal identification information, financial%%Naccounts, and loyalty programs. The privately-held company offers retailers a%%Ncomplete payment solution, from front-end biometric authentication, age%%Nverification, and check cashing to back-end payment processing for ACH, debit%%Ncard, and credit card transactions. Pay By Touch has more than two-dozen U.S.%%Nissued patents covering biometric transactions. For additional information,%%Nvisit www.paybytouch.com.%%N%%NAbout Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co.%%NPiggly Wiggly Carolina Company is headquartered in Charleston, South%%NCarolina. It was founded in 1947 and today is the largest employee-owned,%%Nprivately operated retail company in South Carolina. Piggly Wiggly includes%%N120 stores and more than 5,000 employees throughout South Carolina and%%Nsoutheast Georgia. For additional information, visit www.thepig.net.%%N%%NSource: Company Press Release

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Source: Company press release.