BioPay announced that Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Lowes Food Stores, Inc. will begin offering biometric payments to its customers, giving people a more convenient and easy way to pay for groceries. In addition, Lowes Foods will offer Paycheck Secure, the nation’s leading biometric identification system, to its check-cashing customers.

BioPay expects to install BioPay at Lowes Foods stores in the North Carolina market in the spring of 2005. BioPay expects to have its payment method installed in all 108 Lowes Foods stores by the end of 2005.

BioPay’s biometric payment service allows people to conveniently pay for purchases with the touch of a finger. There is no cost for customers to enroll or use BioPay.

Lowes Foods customers in the North Carolina market have already begun using BioPay’s Paycheck Secure to quickly and securely cash payroll checks. Paycheck Secure uses biometric technology to electronically capture a customer’s finger image and then record payroll check transactions associated with that person.

Customers only need to enroll in BioPay once, and enrollment can be completed at any merchant that offers the biometric payment service. To enroll, the customer gives the clerk his or her driver’s license or other ID, which is entered into BioPay’s database. At the same time, the customer’s index fingers are scanned. The customer’s preferred checking account is recorded, as well as Rewards Card and age information. The entire process takes less than one minute. Once enrolled, the customer can pay with his or her finger at any retailer in the United States that features BioPay.

More than 1.5 million consumers are enrolled in Paycheck Secure, making it the most widely used retail biometric system in the nation.

“BioPay helps Lowes Foods extend its commitment to quality, value and service by giving their customers a convenient way to pay,” said Tim Robinson, president, BioPay.