FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cole National Rolls out Innovative POS Check
Service from Electronic Clearing House Inc. and
Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions

Camarillo, Calif., May 17, 2004 - Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), a leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing services, announced today a merchant solution partnership with Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions, the electronic transaction processing division of Fifth Third Bank (Nasdaq:FITB - News). ECHO provides the third-party processing for Fifth Third's POS Check Service, which has been rolled out to Cole National Corporation's (NYSE:CNJ - News) Pearle Vision Stores.

The POS Check Service enables merchants to automatically convert paper checks to electronic entries at the point of sale, dramatically reducing processing costs. Checks are verified and settled against the consumer's checking account at a participating Visa member bank, or by ECHO's third-party processing, essentially turning paper checks into electronic debit transactions. Merchants are able to receive check authorization within seconds, and then hand the voided check back to the customer. As a result, the POS Check Service provides merchants with all the convenience of a credit card transaction at a fraction of Fifth Third and ECHO have successfully demonstrated the solution at Cole National Corporation's Pearle Vision stores. The solution will now be piloted at Cole National's Things Remembered locations.

"The POS Check Service enables us to offer our customers the convenience of paper checks, while streamlining our in-store and back-office systems, and reducing the risks of check acceptance," said Joseph Gaglioti, Treasurer of Pearle Vision.

"We are very pleased to partner with Fifth Third in providing the POS Check Service to Cole National Corporation," said Joel M. Barry, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Clearing House, Inc. "This solution moves checks into the digital age, with a unique combination of real-time check authorization, elimination of paper processing and automated electronic settlement of funds."

About Cole National Corporation

Cole National Corporation (NYSE:CNJ - News) is a leading retailer of optical services and personalized gifts. Cole's vision business, together with Pearle franchisees, has 2,197 locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and includes Cole Managed Vision, one of the largest managed vision care benefit providers with multiple provider panels and nearly 20,000 practitioners. Cole's personalized gift business, Things Remembered, serves customers through 728 locations nationwide, catalogs, and the Internet at www.thingsremembered.com. Cole also has a 21% interest in Pearle Europe, which has 1,487 optical stores in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden.

About Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions

Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions is one of the nation's largest providers of credit, debit, EBT, ACH and check acceptance services. Established in 1973, Fifth Third's high-end in-house processing capabilities offer an unparalleled combination of flexibility, reliability, experience, and proactive support. Fifth Third innovations include the development of JEANIE®, the nation's first modern ATM network and Fifth Third Direct(SM), the industry-leading interactive, Internet-based back-office support system. As one of the four main businesses operated by Fifth Third Bancorp, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions processes 9 billion ATM and POS transactions per year for more than 200,000 merchant locations and 1,600 financial institutions worldwide. More information may be found at www.53.com.

About Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO)

ECHO (www.echo-inc.com) provides a complete solution to the payment processing needs of merchants, banks and collection agencies. ECHO's services include debit and credit card processing, check guarantee, check verification, check conversion, check re-presentment, and check collection.

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 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, the adequacy of the Company's liquidity and financial strength to support its growth, and other information detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

     Electronic Clearing House, Inc.
     Donna Rehman, 805-419-8533
     corp@ECHO-inc.com 
     http://www.echo-inc.com
      or
     Coffin Communications Group
     Crocker Coulson, 818-789-0100
     crocker.coulson@coffincg.com