The vendor says the service, called TrueMe, provides PC users with a fast and secure way to identify themselves, interact and transact on the Web using their fingerprints.

When signing in a user touches a TrueMe certified finger sensor built into a computer or attached as a USB device. Information about the user's fingerprint is encrypted inside the sensor and combined with the unique device ID before it is sent to the TrueMe authentication servers.

The user's authenticated identity is then sent through a secure connection to the Web site or service that the customer is trying to access. If the person is identified as an authorised user, they immediately granted access.

Pay By Touch says users can securely access Web-based accounts without needing to enter IDs, passwords or account numbers.

In addition, multiple users can share the same computer by registering individual fingerprints on the TrueMe sensor without compromising security.

Pay By Touch says the system enables businesses to provide customers, partners and employees with secure, authenticated access to computers, desktop applications and password-protected Web sites and services, such as online banking.

John Rogers, founder, chairman and CEO of Pay By Touch, says with the continued growth of identity theft, credit card fraud and phishing scams, security on the Internet is more important than ever: "TrueMe brings the security and protection of our industry-leading biometric services to the Internet for the first time, providing a new layer of privacy and convenience to PC users."

San Franscisco-based Pay By Touch says it has signed up PC firm Lenovo amd CRM software vendor Salesforce.com to the TrueMe service.

Lenovo says it has already shipped more than three million of its ThinkPad notebooks with the fingerprint readers attached. Marc Godin, VP of marketing, notebook business unit, Lenovo, says: "With the holiday gift-giving season approaching, Lenovo customers using biometrics will benefit from a level of security previously not available in the industry, and can feel confident that their financial information is protected while they shop online."

The TrueMe service has also been integrated with salesforce.com's on-demand business services.

The vendor has also teaming with biometric security systems provider UPEK to offer a TrueMe-branded and certified USB finger sensor for users that do not have the scanners built in to their PCs.