Finance company FlexiGroup will continue its push into the point-of-sale, interest-free finance segment with the purchase of Lombard Finance.FlexiGroup announced yesterday that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Lombard for A$10 million. The purchase price represents five times Lombard's forecast 2012/13 cash profit.Lombard, which has 23,000 active customers, is a specialist in interest-free finance. Consumers are offered finance with an interest-free period in which to pay for their goods; if they don't pay for the goods within the interest-free period they start paying interest.FlexiGroup's Certegy division sells a purchase payment plan called Ezi-Pay. Consumers pay an application fee and a monthly processing fee but no interest at any stage. The retailer pays Certegy for the cost of the finance.Certegy, which FlexiGroup acquired in 2008, has been a good earner. Because the retailer rather than the consumer pays for the finance, sacrificing some margin to make the sale, it has been a successful model during a period when consumers have been reluctant to take on debt.Certegy's volumes rose 22 per cent during the December half-year and its contribution to FlexiGroup's profit rose 58 per cent.Lombard's finance package is based on the issue of a Visa card. FlexiGroup said in a statement yesterday that card-based offers represent 95 per cent of the interest-free market.FlexiGroup chief executive John DeLano said: "Lombard is a low-cost, efficient and highly scalable business that has been capital constrained since the global financial crisis."FlexiGroup has the balance sheet, customer base and relationships with 11,000 retailers to drive growth."