Facebook (News - Alert) started and ended this week with mobile-focused acquisitions, with the purchase of photo-sharing application Instagram for $1 billion on Monday. Today, Facebook has acquired the team and most of the assets of Tagtile, a mobile-based customer loyalty startup.

Tagtile provides businesses with a free hardware device for customers to tap on with their phone when they checkout. The device combined with the app allows stores to run coupon programs and loyalty rewards.

“We’re happy to confirm that Tagtile’s founders are joining Facebook, and that Facebook is acquiring substantially all of the company’s assets,” Facebook said in a statement. “We’ve admired the engineering team’s efforts for some time now and we’re excited to have them join Facebook.”

Tagtile can help businesses become more acquainted with their customers. It connects purchase history with customer identity, giving businesses information about their customer base such as who customers are, where they come from, and how often they buy from the business.

“We started Tagtile with a simple goal − to help local business owners build better relationships with their best customers. We've been thrilled to see the enthusiastic response from both businesses and their customers, and even more pleased to watch those stronger relationships we envisioned start to develop,” Tagtile stated on its website.

Tagtile keeps customers engaged using push notifications, customized offers, and targeted information, and it allows for an easier interaction between business and customer. Tagtile encourages customers to revisit and post positive experiences about businesses on Facebook and Twitter (News - Alert).

According to Tagtile, the service will continue to work for now, but the company won’t be taking on any new customers. “Tagtile as it exists today won’t be part of what we do at Facebook,” the post says.

In efforts to improve its positioning in the mobile-minded talent space, Facebook had 432 million mobile monthly active users as of Dec. 31, 2011, and over 13 percent of these users accessed the social network through mobile devices.