WASHINGTON – CardSystems Solutions, the Atlanta-based firm that was implicated in the biggest card data security compromise to date and which has been purchased by Pay By Touch, a card processing firm which specializes in biometrics, has walked away from the incident without a fine. The Federal Trade Commission announced on Feb. 23 that the firm and its successor agreed to put into place a "comprehensive information security program" and to have its security program independently audited every two years for 20 years. "CardSytems kept information it had no reason to keep and then stored it in a way that put consumers' financial information at risk," said FTC Chairman, Deborah Platt Majoras. "Any company that keeps sensitive consumer information must take steps to ensure that the data is held in a secure manner." According to the FTC, CardSystems processed about 210 million card purchases, totaling more than $15 billion, for more than 119,000 small and mid-size merchants last year. In processing these transactions, CardSystems collected personal information from the magnetic strip of the card, including the card number, expiration date, and other data. CardSystems then stored this information on its computer network. Pay By Touch acquired CardSystems' assets in December 2005, and now processes transactions for the same merchants CardSystems served.