ECHO Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2001

Electronic Clearing House and Provident Bank Sign Agreement for Electronic Check Services

Visa member bank, Provident, selects Electronic Clearing House, Inc., as its third-party processor for Visa’s innovative POS check service

July 24, 2001, Agoura Hills, Calif. Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO), a leading provider of electronic payment services, today announced that the Company has entered into an agreement to provide Provident Bank, a Cincinnati-based company, with electronic check services and processing as a participating bank in Visa USA’s Point Of Sale (POS) check service. 

The service allows merchants the ability to electronically accept a check from any financial institution. If the check writer's financial institution has chosen to participate in the Visa POS check service, the availability of funds is immediately confirmed to the merchant. 

If the check writer's financial institution is not a participating member in the Visa POS check service, under the terms of the agreement, ECHO’s ACH processing system and NCN database will provide the critical infrastructure to enable electronic conversion, verification and guarantee of the checks. 

Starting this month, several major Visa member financial institutions that have chosen ECHO as their third-party processor are scheduled to initiate their participation in the pilot program for Visa’s POS check service.

“We are very excited to be working with Provident to deliver a complete check-services solution to their participating merchants,” said Joel M. Barry, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Clearing House, Inc. “The VISA POS service has the potential to sharply reduce check processing costs for banks, while allowing them to provide enormous payment flexibility to the merchant. This program allows merchants to accept checks with confidence by offering three levels of security – check conversion, conversion with verification or check guarantee. With this system, merchants can offer their customers the convenience of checks, while managing their exposure, at a very reasonable cost.”

The POS check service represents a major new initiative by Visa to enable merchants to receive direct online authorization for checks written against consumer demand deposit accounts, similar to credit and debit card transactions. A merchant will be able to convert a paper check automatically to an electronic transaction and will have the option of either verifying availability of funds or guaranteeing payment on the check. The paper check will then be handed back to the customer at the point of sale.

Verification significantly reduces the risk of fraud or loss to the merchant. Under the guarantee option, the check is purchased from the merchant at a discount, completely eliminating the risk of loss.

About ECHO:

Electronic Clearing House Inc. provides debit and credit card processing, check guarantee, check verification, check conversion, check re-presentment, check collection and inventory tracking to more than 60,000 retail merchants and U-Haul dealers across the nation.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as successful completion of the Visa POS check service pilot program, acceptance of the service by Visa member banks, fluctuations in demand for the company's products and services, the introduction of new products and services, the company's ability to maintain customer and strategic business relationships, technological advancements, impact of competitive products and services and pricing, growth in targeted markets and other information detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor Contacts:

Donna Rehman, Corporate Secretary 
Electronic Clearing House, Inc.
818-706-8999, ext. 3033 
Agoura Hills, Calif. 
E-MAIL: corp@ECHO-inc.com
URL: http://www.ECHO-inc.com

Crocker Coulson, Partner
Coffin Communications Group
818-789-0100
E-MAIL: crocker.coulson@coffincg.com

Press Releases are also available by calling (800) 233-0406 ext. 3033, or by email to corp@echo-inc.com

2001
2000

Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO)
28001 Dorothy Drive
Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Phone: (800) 233-0406
Fax: (818) 991-5973
E-Mail: echo@echo-inc.com
URL: http://www.echo-inc.com