Pay By Touch Press Release

Pay By Touch Introduces Reward and Gift Card Kiosks for Self-Service Card Creation

New Retail Kiosk Enables Shoppers to Personalize and Purchase Gift Cards in Three Easy Steps

KIOSKCOM SELF-SERVICE EXPO, LAS VEGAS & SAN FRANCISCO – (April 25, 2007)

– Pay By Touch, the leader in biometric payments and personalized marketing, today announced the immediate availability of its Reward and Gift Card Kiosk.* The new self-service kiosks enable retail customers to design, print and purchase personalized gift cards, and obtain loyalty program cards, without merchant personnel assistance.

The Internet-enabled retail kiosk lets shoppers create customized store-branded and third-party gift cards with personalized "to" and "from" names and single or multiple design full-color graphics. Gift cards can be purchased and dispensed directly from the self-serve kiosk, eliminating the current requirement of purchasing gift cards at the check-out lane or customer service counter.

The kiosks store an unlimited number of graphics, so multiple merchants or brands can be supported on a single kiosk.

Here's how it works:

1. Using a touch-screen, the shopper chooses from multiple designs to match the gift-giving occasion, and chooses the denomination he or she prefers.

2. The shopper then types in both the recipient's and the gift giver's name (likely her own) into the "to" and "from" fields.

3. Using a credit card, the shopper purchases the gift card directly through the kiosk. The shopper presses "print" and a personalized, activated gift card is printed in seconds, along with a receipt.

"The Reward and Gift Card Kiosk enables the shopper to custom-design her own gift cards, turning an ordinary cash gift into something personal and special," said Jeff Grider, vice president, Pay By Touch Personalized Marketing. "Since the cards are printed in the kiosk for each individual order, merchants no longer have to struggle with guessing the correct numbers of specialty gift cards to pre-order – the right gift cards are always in-stock for every occasion, be it a birthday, anniversary or national holiday."

Merchants can also expand the Reward and Gift Card Kiosk to incorporate Rapid Enroll™, powered by Pay By Touch.

Announced last year, Rapid Enroll technology allows for quick and easy loyalty program enrollment, reducing processing time from weeks to minutes. When Rapid Enroll technology is added to the Reward and Gift Card Kiosk, customers can quickly and easily sign-up and print a ready-to-use loyalty card directly from the kiosk without store personnel assistance.

"Pay By Touch provides retailers with smart, flexible solutions that foster loyalty by delivering value to shoppers," said John Rogers, founder, chairman and CEO, Pay By Touch. "The Reward and Gift Card Kiosk simplifies the gift card process while offering quick and easy enrollment in loyalty programs." The Reward and Gift Card Kiosk is currently being piloted by one of the country's most innovative grocers, Green Hills Market of Syracuse, New York.

"The Reward and Gift Card Kiosk from Pay By Touch is a hit with Green Hills' shoppers," said Gary Hawkins, proprietor of Green Hills Market and CEO of Hawkins Strategic. "We love the convenience, and shoppers enjoy being able to add a friend's name as well as their own to each gift card. It brings warmth and personality back into the process."

The Reward and Gift Card Kiosk, powered by Pay By Touch is a stand alone, self-serve kiosk that requires no point of sale (POS) system integration and no merchant intervention. It is available for demonstration at the KioskCom Self-Service Expo in Las Vegas, April 25-26 at the Pay By Touch booth #650, as well as the show's "Self-Service Street" pavilion. For more information, go to
http://www.paybytouch.com/cr

About Pay By Touch
Pay By Touch (www.paybytouch.com) is the global leader in biometric authentication, personalized marketing and payment solutions. Already, more than 3.7 million consumers are using Pay By Touch services to identify themselves, make purchases, cash checks and get personalized savings with the touch of a finger. Pay By Touch services are free for consumers to use and available in more than 2,400 retail locations across 44 states, the UK and Singapore. Pay By Touch also provides robust data management and payment processing solutions for ACH (electronic checking), card-present and card-not-present debit and credit transactions for retail clients. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in San Francisco, Pay By Touch employs 800 professionals and holds more than 60 patents worldwide on secure, convenient and cost-effective transaction solutions.

*Editor's Note: An Image of the Reward and Gift Card Kiosk is available at www.paybytouch.com or by clicking on the link below:
http://www.paybytouch.com/vgn/staticfiles/images/article/giftcard_kiosk_1.jpg

Porter Novelli for Pay By Touch
Laura Bakken
(415) 975-3323
laura.bakken@porternovelli.com

China- Does PBT have enough Guanxi?

Charge! Chinese Bulk Up On Cards - Forbes.com HONG KONG -

In Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, they now seem as comfortable paying with plastic as cash.

About 30% of consumer purchases were made with debit and credit cards last year in China’s biggest cities, according to the People’s Bank of China, demonstrating that China’s bank card payment system has reachedthe level of developed countries.

Amid robust economic growth, Chinese consumers doubled card spending in 2006 to 1.9 trillion yuan ($242.3 billion), representing 17% of last year's retail sales of consumer goods, up from 10% in 2005, the central bank said in a report.

Chinese banks issued 1.08 billion debit cards and 50 million credit cards in 2006 .Yet, there’s still a long way to go. Despite a 22% rise in the number of credit cards last year, debit cards still dominated 96% of the market. (I'm sure PBT is fine with those numbers)

I'll have more on this Monday, including who the current leaders in the Chinese payments industry are, how Pay By Touch can utilize their relationship with Win Win Gaming to develop that highly touted "guanxi" ... and what possibilities their strategic partnership with Citigroup might enable.

It's the hottest market out there, but one has to be extremely careful...I remember reading in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that GM's Chinese partner learning from Detroit, is pushing it's own cars and now looms as a new rival. My personal experience with the Chinese, which was relatively extensive back in 1994-95 was pleasant, however they do have a reputation for digging deep for and "borrowing" secrets. So one has to be aware in principal and have the ability to "shen zhong" or be meticulous, careful, protective and aware.

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Preview of Sunday's Houston Grand Prix

This season will also see America’s top open-wheel racing series become the first U.S. sports organization to telecast an event in China.

Now the Chinese fans can follow every lap of Pay By Touch action at the Grand Prix of Houston and the other races leading up to the inaugural Champ Car Grand Prix of China as the series has reached an agreement for Champ Car World Series races to be carried nationwide throughout China.

As a result, the Grand Prix of Houston and the city (and Pay By Touch) will be exposed to more than 800 million viewers throughout the world’s most populous country.

On to the preview:

Grand Prix of Houston

TV: ESPN 2:00 pm CST - Sunday

Grand Marshall: Roger Clemens
Website: Houston Grand Prix


Grand Prix Roars Into
Speedway at Reliant Park!

The Grand Prix of Houston begins today at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park, with on-track action all day including American Le Mans and Champ Car qualifying.

Tonight at 8:30 p.m., rock legend Paul Rodgers performs on the Budweiser stage for a concert that is free to all ticket holders. Great tickets are still available!

The City of Houston and the Grand Prix of Houston will be exposed to millions of racing fans around the world next weekend, thanks to four national television broadcasts and a number of international broadcast agreements.

The Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston on Sunday, April 22 will be televised live on ESPN at 2:00 p.m. (CST). The race will be the first broadcast as part of a new multi-year television partnership between the Champ Car World Series and ABC/ESPN. Rick Benjamin and Jon Beekhuis will be in the booth, with Cameron Steeles, Bill Stephens, and Michelle Beisner calling the action from the pits.

Pay By Touch driver, Tristan Gommendy, led the Long Beach Race for 13 laps last week, giving Pay By Touch significant TV time, but unfortunately, with no yellow flags, had to stop "for a splash of gas which relegated him to 11th."

He is in 6th place in points and his 13 laps in first place was his first experience leading a Grand Prix event. From www.autoracing1.com:

Robert Doornbos (#14 is amongst the rookies that will have to learn a new track once again, but as he has proved in his first two races in the Champ Car World Series, he is adapting quickly to what is put in front of him. If it wouldn’t have been for a lengthy pit stop in Long Beach, the Dutchman was on his way to what could have been another top-five finish and despite a somewhat disappointing finish at Long Beach, Doornbos heads to Houston as the class of the rookie field.

Dueling with Doornbos for the Rookie title is PKV Racing driver Tristan Gommendy (#22 Pay by Touch Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) who led his first laps of the season in Long Beach ahead of fellow countryman Bourdais. Gommendy paced the field for 13 laps but came up short on his pit strategy and had to pit which relegated him to 11th. However, Gommendy is in sixth place on the points chart. This is the last race until June 10th in Portland at the Portland International Speedway.

Personalized Marketing Program Has Good Numbers

Among the lakes, hills and gorges of upstate New York, the Green Hills Market began its retailing life as a farm stand in 1934 just outside of Syracuse. It thrived on local products and service that catered to individual customers. But as it has grown into a modern supermarket known for technology innovation, it has found new ways to offer customers its personal touch.

Green Hills is out to perfect the widely held if elusive desire of retailers to market to a large number of customers on a truly one-to-one basis, says proprietor Gary Hawkins. And he's doing it by applying web-based analytics, the same principle that lets web sites analyze online shopping behavior and create highly personalized shopping experiences and marketing offers to the physical store. One of our goals is to bring to brick-and-mortar retailing the capabilities of the online world,he says.

So when a shopper participating in his store's loyalty program walks in the door, the first thing she does is touch a finger to a web-connected biometrics scanning device at a SmartShop kiosk, placed prominently near the store entrance. Within seconds, the kiosk prints out a list of coupons tailored to her recorded shopping behavior.

When she's done shopping, the shopper touches another fingerprint scanner at checkout, which sends a record of her purchases through a web-services-enabled network to a back-end database, where special algorithms work with sales data and promotional data to configure a new personalized batch of coupon offers.

And so the cycle starts all over. The system is designed so that, when the shopper returns a few days later and again touches the SmartShop fingerprint scanner upon entering the store, it will print out a new list of coupons based on her up-to-date shopping behavior.

Customers respond

PBT's SmartShop system is just one example of how retailers are bringing the web into stores as a way of better understanding and engaging customers. The applications differ, but all focus on developing relationships with shoppers to turn them into long-term, profitable customers, and for most that means across multiple channels.

In-store web-enabled devices provide a foundation to provide the highest level of customer service and provide a link to other channels,says Sunita Gupta, executive vice president of retail consultants LakeWest Group LLC in Cleveland. And two things that most retailers talk to us about are how to offer better customer service, and how to satisfy the requirements of multi-channel retailing.

Deployed a year ago in Green Hills Market, SmartShop has elicited an unusually high coupon redemption rate of 20%, Hawkins says. By comparison, the retail industry average for coupon redemptions is about 1%, according to several sources including research and consulting firm Aberdeen Group Inc.

The program is also helping to generate more repeat store traffic and sales, Hawkins adds.

The SmartShop service has been extremely popular, and shopper participation is already impacting 50% of store revenue he says. Shoppers enrolled in SmartShop have increased their visits by 10% over a comparable period a year ago before the program was available, he adds.

Hawkins and his separate consulting practice, Hawkins Strategic, helped develop the SmartShop system with Pay By Touch, a company that also provides fingerprint activated payment devices. Following a test of the SmartShop system by Green Hills, Pay By Touch made it generally available in January and is talking with at least two other large retail chains about deploying the biometrics version.

ATM Direct Launches PIN Secure Program

	This site is certified to use the ATM Direct Internet PIN Debit payment and authentication services. ATM Direct Internet PIN Debit is the most secure card payment method available. Your OnboardTM service icon on your screen will indicate if the site is certified for ATM Direct Internet PIN Debit. Please visit www.atmdirect.com or email us at customersupport@atmdirect.com or call us at 214-596-0707.

2007 IPO's Look Even Better Than 2006

Offerings surged in 2006; this year could be better, PWC says - MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. initial public offerings in 2006 raised 28% more money for companies than IPOs raised during the previous year, and 2007 could be even better, according to a report published Wednesday by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Private-equity firms, keen to exit some of the companies they've acquired in recent years, will be a major source of IPOs this year, as they were in 2006, the firm added.

IPO proceeds on U.S. exchanges hit $50 billion in 2006, just $2 billion short of the decade's high set in 2004, and 28% above the $39 billion raised last year. The final quarter of 2006 was the strongest quarter for IPOs this decade, PWC noted.

"Virtually all of this growth came from IPOs backed by financial sponsors including private equity firms," Scott Gehsmann, a Transaction Services Capital Markets partner at PWC, said in a statement.

This year has also started strongly, with 64 IPOs raising $12.1 billion during the first quarter. That's up from $11.9 billion from 56 IPOs in the first quarter of 2006, and $10.8 billion from 43 listings in early 2005, he added.

Private-equity firms have acquired roughly $700 billion worth of companies in the past two years. These firms will now be looking to exit some of those investments by taking them public all over again, he explained.

"Absent a significant equity market decline, we expect 2007 to be a stronger year for U.S. IPOs than 2006," Gehsmann concluded.

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Internet PIN Debit is Big Milestone in Transaction History

On Monday, I posted the press release regarding ATM Direct, a division of Pay By Touch, partnering with e-commerce company 2Checkout.com to form the internet’s first software-only PIN-debit payment service.

Today, I'll provide more detail as to why this particular watershed event is a major milestone for Pay By Touch in its quest to "change the way the world pays".

In my first post following the acquisition of ATM Direct, I vocalized my strong opinion that this particular product could udderly (pun intended) become a Pay By Touch cash cow. (links to definition on Wikipedia )


Prior to ATM Direct, Internet PIN debit was simply and unequivocally, not even an option for Internet Retailers. This "missing link" to Internet retailing costs "individual" web merchants hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars per year in excess processing fees.

Pay By Touch is now in a unique position to change the way the World and the World Wide Web transacts.

The reason why an Internet PIN debit option has not existed prior to now is simple. The physical card is not present at the physical location whilst making web purchases. The result is that Visa and MasterCard can charge the Internet Retailers a higher "card not present" rate. PIN Debit results in the transaction becoming more secure because the user must enter their Personal Identification Number" (PIN) and therefore the cost of the transaction is significantly lower.

This product from Pay By Touch becomes a milestone event, because Internet Retailers, even those that boast billion dollar annual sales volume, pay 25% to 50% more in transaction fees than they would with PIN Debit fees. The timing is right because, according to a recent report by Jupiter Research, online debit card use will surpass online credit card use in 2007. Debit transactions surpassed credit transaction last year at "brick and mortar" locations.

If you've been following this blog you may remember that ATM Direct was named one of the Top 5 Financial Innovations by Bank Technology News. It is certainly a paradigm shift in the payments arena.

ATM Direct bills itself as a secure and inexpensive alternative to credit and signature-debit acceptance online. Without discussing pricing, ATM Direct’s fees are less than half what merchants pay for bank card transactions.

PIN debit at the physical point of sale is generally priced by EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) networks at rates below signature debit.

This results in significant savings for large online retailers.

From a Previous Post: Monday, February 13, 2006 A Closer Look at PBT's ATM Direct

"Credit cards were not designed for use on the Internet. With no card present, and no signature available, the risk is too high and fraud is too prevalent Lower cost debit cards already outnumber credit card transactions on the Internet, however, they are processed at "credit card transaction rates".

RESULT: INTERNET RETAILERS ACCEPT LOWER COST DEBIT CARDS BUT PAY THE MUCH HIGHER CREDIT CARD (NOT PRESENT) INTERCHANGE RATE. PIN DEBIT IS 15 TIMES MORE SECURE THAN SIGNATURE DEBIT.

Rhetorical Question of the Day:

Why would any Internet Retailer PAY DOUBLE the fees to INCREASE RISK?

PIN Debit from Pay by Touch will CUT PROCESSING FEES IN HALF with a payment that is 15 times more secure ...and open their store to more customers.

PIN-debit is the most widely used card payment method in the world and is often the only card payment alternative in countries where credit card and "signature" debit cards are not widely used or not available.

Getting back to where I left off, anywhere from 7% to 15% of the signature-debit transactions CURRENTLY accepted by merchants ATM Direct has targeted could be converted to PIN debit, That's without advertising to consumers that they could use their safer, more secure PIN Debit card. I would estimate, according to current industry trends, that the number would jump to 40-50%.

As with PIN debit at the point of sale, transactions are authenticated by consumer-entered PINs and funds are guaranteed to merchants. “We’re the only provider of online PIN debit,” Ziegler says. “And as part of our software, we give the consumer the security of an authentication framework to protect them when they’re online.”

The ATM (Authenticated Transaction Monopoly?) Direct system, is the first and only Internet PIN Debit payment system that allows a consumer to use their check card or even an ATM card to make purchases on the Web.

There's no need for a new PIN, it works with the consumers existing PIN number. ATM Direct has been busy readying themselves for a big 2007. It is already a certified processor for physical POS PIN transactions not only on the ACCEL/Exchange network but also on the three major national systems, Star, NYCE, and Pulse.

Just think of the ramifications when Pay By Touch incorporates a second authentication (biometric signature) to the equation. The result would be the safest and most secure transaction one could possibly use to make web purchases. The actual card, the actual PIN and the Actual Person. No matter that the card is not present when multi-layerd authenticationally speaking, the person is. Triple authentication is something they HAVE (the card), KNOW (PIN) & ARE.(biometric)

An argument can be made for an even lower Interchange rate than currently exists for just PIN Debit.

According to Robert Zieglar, President of ATM Direct, the company is also processing so-called PIN-less debit transactions, which are bill payments consumers make online with PIN-debit account numbers but without PINs, for these networks. “When they’re ready, it makes it easy for them to move [into PIN-based online payment],” Ziegler says.

Pay By Touch signed its second Internet Retailer merchant this week and expects 18 more by the end of the year, including two more this quarter.

“I feel good about the conversations we’re having now with top online merchants,” says Robert Ziegler, general manager at Irving, Texas-based ATM Direct. “We’re right on track.” These “top” merchants, Ziegler says, are in the upper levels of Web retailers in terms of sales.

Editiors Note: Why wouldn't billion dollar annual sales web merchants like Amazon or JC Penney use PIN Debit if they could save millions of dollars annually in transaction fees? The short answer is that they will...eventually. Here's an educated guess...the fact that JC Penney is already a partner with Pay By Touch due to the SH Solutions acquisition, combined with the fact that JC Penney is also, like PBT, a Saatchi & Saatchi "lovemark", provides a common denominator that suggests that JC Penney just may be ATM Direct's first billion dollar Internet merchant. Once you get one, it snowballs. The competition doesn't like to see their competitor saving millions per year in transaction fees without wanting to level the playing field by jumping on board as well...

ATM Direct also expects soon to sign an agreement with a second, unnamed electronic funds transfer network to enable its technology.

The ACCEL/Exchange network, based in Bellevue, Wash., has been testing the service for about a year, but Ziegler says ATM Direct is now a commercial processor on the network, which is owned by Milwaukee-based Fiserv Inc. And, the company plans to introduce a mobile version of its technology “late this year,” Ziegler says.

ATM Direct’s plans could be furthered by getting more EFT networks to enable its technology. ACCEL/Exchange, whose 80 million cards account for about one-third of those in circulation, will bring the last of its 3,500 member banks live on the service by the end of the quarter, Ziegler says.

ATM Direct’s patent-pending system works by downloading digitally unique code to the consumer's desktop, setting up a process of multifactor authentication in which the company can authenticate the consumer by recognizing the code and by means of technology such as geo-location. The company also sweeps the consumer’s PC for keyloggers and other trojans.

When the consumer is ready to buy and ATM Direct is satisfied the PC is secure, the system presents on the screen a keypad for PIN entry.

The pad is called a floating PIN pad because a different numerical configuration is presented each time. This process disables the computer keyboard, allowing entry only by mouse click. (eliminates keylogging)

Once PIN entry is complete, ATM Direct returns a signed token to the merchant, asking if the merchant wants to go forward with authorization.

If so, it creates a transaction message, including a PIN block with PINs encrypted at two-key triple DES, to go to the relevant EFT network for authorization and settlement at the issuing bank. In this sense, it operates as if it were another processor hooked into the EFT network’s switch.

Here are some key findings from a recent report from Jupiter Research...

Online payment shifting from credit to debit, Jupiter report finds

As in the offline world, consumers are shifting from credit to debit payment online, with debit transaction volume expected to surpass credit transactions online by 2007. That has important implications for online merchants and card issuers, according to a new report from Jupiter Research, U.S. Online payments Forecast, 2007-2010

A signature is required to authorize a debit transaction, an option that cannot exist online.

PIN debit transactions, another means of user authentication aren't typically used online due to security concerns, and security concerns also have so far limited the growth of PIN-less debit transactions.

To reduce the risk of online debit transactions while accommodating consumers` desire for online debit transactions, Kountz also encourages merchants and card issuers to start exploring investing in platforms for Internet PIN debit.

For more information on ATM Direct visit www.atmdirect.com
For more information on S&H Solutions visit: www.shsolutions.com

Biometrics 101 from The GreenSheet

Biometrics 101

By Ross Federgreen, CSRSI

dentity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes worldwide. For victims, it's a nightmare. For the rest of us, the mere thought of it causes a strong visceral reaction. People in all walks of life want solutions.

In February, in response to increasing concerns about this issue, the Leahy-Specter Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007 was introduced into the U.S. Senate.

The bill delineates certain responsibilities of merchants who accept personal data, including credit card data. Merchants face the burden of not only securing information they obtain, but also discerning its legitimacy.

Accepting payment cards is risky. One of the greatest challenges in card present and card not present environments is determining and documenting that the person presenting a bankcard for payment is actually authorized to use the card. To this end, biometric identification is gaining traction among financial institutions. It is being deployed to safeguard financial transactions in several areas, including ATM access, online banking, and authentication at retail POS and card not present environments.

An emerging marketplace

Biometric systems designed for the payments industry are an emerging vehicle ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) can use to obtain and retain merchant clients.

A growing number of multilane retailers are implementing biometric solutions. The main reasons for this are processing speed, security, cost and implementation.

A considerable number of businesses in the food vertical market have adopted biometric payment devices. Some of the major providers are Pay By Touch, NTT DoCoMo Inc., US Biometrics and Ingenico Corp.

Body language

Finger, iris, voice, hand, facial characteristics, keystroke patterns and DNA _ what do these have in common? They are biological or physical markers being used with increasing frequency to identify and authenticate individuals.

Biometrics is the study of such characteristics. The financial transactions sphere is using unique biological or physical markers for the purpose of identification.

After a characteristic is selected for a biometric system, the following three steps are required:

1. Capture the necessary information pertaining to the chosen characteristic. This is done with a mechanical device such as a fingerprint sensor.
2. Manipulate the captured data using an algorithm to put it into electronic form. This allows it to be compared to pre-existing information.
3. Compare the extracted data to a repository of information so that a match can be made.

A biometric system has enrollment, verification and identification functions:

· Enrollment consists of adding biometric information to a database. It may also include various screens to make sure that duplicate or other compromised information is not added.

· Verification is based on a one-to-one match against a single record. This answers the question, "Is this the person who he or she claims to be?"

· Identification is based upon matching against all of the records in a database. It is a one-to-many sort. And it answers the question, "Is there a pre-existing record on this individual?"

Essential attributes

In addition to being secure, the critical qualities of a useful biometric system are that it be unique, permanent and easy to use. The technology must also be fast, accurate and low cost.

People must also respond favorably to the solution. (The public had a strong negative reaction at the Super Bowl in Tampa several years ago when facial recognition software was used to check attendees for matches with a criminal database.)

Multilayered authentication is important, too. It consists of four layers of security:

1. The lowest level is a single item that you know, such as a PIN.
2. The second level is a single item that you know, such as the PIN, plus something that you have, such as a credit card.
3. The third level is a single item that you have, such as a credit card, plus something that you are, which is affirmed by a recognized biological or physical marker, such as a fingerprint.
4. The strongest form of authentication is something you know, something you have and something you are. So, remember the three key components: know, have and are.

Biometric systems are superior to other common means of confirming identity, such as tokens or passwords. Tokens are defined as something one possesses; passwords are something one knows.

Tokens and passwords cannot ensure a positive identification because they are both routinely compromised. Alternatively, biometric identifiers are linked to persons themselves and therefore cannot be forgotten. They are much more difficult to counterfeit or steal.

Biometrics is not a fad

Many biometric issues are unresolved; two are immediately compelling.

From the positive viewpoint, evidence suggests that if a store acts as a biometric registration site, its foot traffic increases. However, not every location is set up to accept and register new users of a given system.

Remember, for a biometric system to be effective, an existing database must contain the specific information being sought so that a match can occur.

Common standards exist for biometric data acquisition. But there is no sharing of databases among different commercial providers. In addition, standards are voluntary, not mandatory.

Be careful when selecting a biometric system. Make sure as many merchants as possible in your area are using the system you employ.

From the negative view, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa U.S.A. resist classifying transactions generated with the use of biometrics as card present versus card not present.

If a biometric transaction is classified as a card not present transaction even in a traditional card present environment, costs will go up, and chargeback defenses will become more difficult. This ongoing issue needs resolution.

Biometrics is a growing part of the payment processing landscape. It is imperative that ISOs and MLSs thoroughly understand how it can benefit their clients. Remember, knowledge is power.

Pay By Touch PIN-Debit Solution Adopted by 2Checkout

Leading E-Commerce Platform Adopts Internet's
First Software-Only PIN-Debit Payment Service

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, IRVING, TX AND COLUMBUS, OH – (April 9, 2007) – ATM Direct, a division of Pay By Touch and provider of the first software-only Internet PIN-debit payment service, today announced that 2Checkout.com, Inc., a leading eCommerce distribution company, is adopting the ATM Direct™ service to allow shoppers to use PIN-debit cards to buy goods online.

"Our focus is on providing a great customer shopping experience, including giving consumers a variety of ways to pay," said Kristin Dach, Chief Financial Officer for 2Checkout.com (www.2checkout.com).

"Many people are seeking a more secure way to pay online or simply prefer to shop with their PIN-debit cards. We see Internet PIN-debit as another way to provide superior service to these customers while encouraging more consumers to shop with us."

PIN Debit has been in widespread use for over 20 years and remains one of the most popular, fastest growing and most secure payment methods in the world. On the Internet, the ATM Direct PIN-debit service (www.atmdirect.com) provides an ideal payment alternative for consumers that prefer debit, have limited credit or are seeking a more secure way to pay over the Internet.

"Consumers recognize PIN-debit as a very secure form of payment, and the online PIN-debit experience is the same," said Robert Ziegler, General Manager for ATM Direct at Pay By Touch. "ATM Direct does not change the flow of the merchant site or redirect the shopper to a new page. Merchants have control over how they present the PIN-debit option, which can be as easy as 'Debit or Credit.' Shoppers simply enter their card number, followed by their 4 digit PIN. It's fast, easy and can help lower the risk of shopping cart abandonment."

Like PIN-debit payments in the brick-and-mortar world, Internet PIN-Debit transactions are processed across the EFT networks directly with the consumer's bank, allowing real-time, guaranteed payments to Internet retailers at lower cost than credit card or signature debit card transactions over the Internet.

The ATM Direct service is the Internet's only software-only PIN-debit solution which allows for rapid, no-cost distribution. By adhering to PIN-debit industry standards, the ATM Direct service also enables networks, banks and card issuers that already accept PIN-debit to accept Internet PIN-debit transactions with few to no changes to their infrastructure.

About 2Checkout™
2Checkout.com, Inc. (2CO) is an online reseller for over 300,000 tangible or digital products and services. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, 2Checkout.com is an e-commerce solution that deals in USD and multiple foreign currencies. The 2CO model combines multiple payment channels, fraud detection, data security, customer service, PCI compliance, co-branding and dependability. For additional information, visit http://www.2checkout.com.

About ATM Direct, a Division of Pay By Touch
ATM Direct, a division of Pay By Touch, provides innovative and secure payment and authentication services to the Internet economy. The ATM Direct™ merchant services deliver the industry’s first software-only, regulatory compliant, Internet PIN-debit payment service. For additional information, visit www.atmdirect.com

About Pay By Touch™
Pay By Touch (www.paybytouch.com) is the global leader in biometric authentication, personalized marketing and payment solutions. Already, more than 3.6 million consumers are using Pay By Touch services to identify themselves, make purchases, cash checks and get personalized savings with the touch of a finger. Pay By Touch services are free for consumers to use and available in more than 3,000 retail locations across 44 states, the UK and Singapore. Pay By Touch also provides robust data management and payment processing solutions for ACH (electronic checking), card-present and card-not-present debit and credit transactions for retail clients. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in San Francisco, Pay By Touch employs 800 professionals and holds more than 60 patents worldwide on secure, convenient and cost-effective transaction solutions.

Buy a Vegemite Sandwich with Pay By Touch

SYDNEY - Imagine a day when the only item you'll need to take to the supermarket to complete a transaction is your index finger.

The concept is already a reality in a limited capacity in some places around the world but observers believe the technology should become mainstream by 2012.

Using biometric scanning to make transactions is expected to be part of a revolution in payments technology.

The long reign of swipe-and-sign plastic cards appears to be weakening with retailers and others considering new ways to make the payment process more secure and faster. Even Citibank, the world's largest credit card issuer, seems to have accepted this reality, partnering with a major biometric payment processor last October.

US based NCR, says the next phase of the technology is to get customers feeling comfortable with the idea of using their biological information to make casual purchases.

Leading the charge in this area is another US company, Pay By Touch, which uses biometric technology to allow consumers to pay for purchases and access loyalty discounts at checkout

Pay By Touch has partnered NCR to merge the fingerprint authentication system with NCR's biometric point-of-sale hardware allowing US consumers to make purchases at selected stores.

Biometric information in its various forms has gained acceptance in a number of government environments, predominantly for security reasons.

And in the consumer sector, a number of Japanese and South Korean banks are using fingerprint scanners as a form of identification at automated teller machines.

Christophe Uzureau, a research analyst with Gartner, says the biggest hindrance to the advancement of the technology in retail is public perception about privacy. People don't really understand biometrics. Once they do, they will see it as a more secure, safer transaction. And once this hurdle is cleared, biometric payment systems could give some leverage to retailers looking to move their revenue streams away from credit.

"What's happening is a much more flexible market place," Uzureau said.

"The idea is to put pressure on the card industry and improve the negotiating power of merchants."

Gartner expects fingerprint purchases to grow quickly and eventually become a mainstream reality in five to 10 years.

Las Vegas Grand Prix Champ Car PBT Photos

Pay By Touch sponsored, PKV Racing's Tristan Gommendy, had an impressive Top 5 Finish in Sunday's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Starting in the 11th position, he climbed and held the 3rd position, hoping for a yellow flag, in order to refuel. It didn't happen and after refueling he came out of the pit in 7th before climbing up 2 spots and finishing 5th.

Next week, is the Long Beach Grand Prix, televised by NBC Sports, the second of three races in three weeks.

As always, click on any picture to enlarge to full resolution...