Pay by Touch to acquire BioPay, becoming largest retail biometrics providerPay by Touch to acquire BioPay, becoming largest retail biometrics provider: Biometrics is big business, and Pay by Touch is biggest player

San Francisco-based Pay by Touch plans to acquire its main rival — Herndon, Virginia-based BioPay — for $82 million in cash and stock. The acquisition will make Pay by Touch the largest provider of biometric technology for retailers. The acquisition will also allow Pay by Touch to get its hands on key technology assets from BioPay, thus ending a year-long patent battle between the two firms. It also combines the extremely valuable members enrolled in their biometric payment program

The technologies of the two companies complement each other. BioPay lets retailers configure the payment process to bypass traditional credit card transaction expenses and merchant fees, using more reasonable ACH transaction costs. It is often used to authenticate consumers and employees during the check cashing process. Pay by Touch focuses on providing a biometric system attached to various consumer accounts, including checking accounts, credit card, and loyalty.

-read more in AMR research alert