Netcentives Inc, the San Francisco-based company that develops rewards, incentive and loyalty programs to drive electronic commerce, has acquired database and systems integrator, Panttaja Consulting Group Inc, also based in San Francisco. Financial terms of the deal between the two privately-held companies were not disclosed. Netcentives says the additional engineering talent acquired in the deal will support the company’s expansion into the business of developing custom loyalty programs for major brands and portals. Also, the acquisition doubles Netcentives’ research and development team and provides the company with an established revenue stream from Panttaja’s nine-year-old consulting business. Since its founding, Panttaja has designed and deployed business applications, with a specialty in internet technologies. It had previously counted Netcentives among its customers.