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ECHO
Press Releases 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
William
Wied Joins
Electronic Clearing House
(ECHO) as New CIO
Camarillo, Calif., January 17,
2006 -
Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), a
leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing
services, announced today that William Wied joined the Company as its new
Chief Information Officer.
Mr. Wied's background includes nearly
15 years of increasing responsibility in the areas of design,
development and deployment of enterprise software solutions in a
number of different industries including semiconductor,
telecommunications, retail and transportation logistics. Before
joining ECHO, Mr. Wied was the Director of Software
Technology for TransCore LP/Roper Industries, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Engineering for
CarrierPoint, Inc., a division of the TransCore LP group of
companies. Mr. Wied's formal educational background includes a
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from National Technological
University and a Master's degree in Computer Science from the
University of Wisconsin. Mr. Wied has a number of publications and
patents to his credit.
"As we finalize and implement
several key IT initiatives this year, Bill's experience should prove
to be very beneficial to ECHO," stated Chuck Harris,
President and COO of ECHO. "In addition to Bill's
expertise and competence in the areas of development, implementation
and security, his enthusiasm and positive attitude are a great fit
with our current team."
As an inducement to Mr. Wied's
decision to enter into employment with ECHO, the Company
entered into a restricted stock grant agreement whereby Mr. Wied was
issued 10,000 shares of restricted stock. The shares vest over a
period of five years, with 2,000 vesting on the first anniversary of
the effective date of the restricted stock grant agreement, and the
remainder vesting annually over a period of four years. The vesting
provisions accelerate to the extent ECHO is acquired, merges
with another company, sells all or substantially all of its assets,
or otherwise enters into another similar transaction, in each case
as set forth in the restricted stock grant agreement. Mr. Wied will
forfeit any portion of the shares not vested at the time that he
ceases providing services to ECHO. The grant of shares was
approved by the Compensation Committee of ECHO's Board of
Directors.
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. Examples of forward-looking statements
included in this press release include the potential for expansion
of ECHO's check guarantee business and the continued strong
demand for ECHO's check products. Potential risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
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.
Contact:
Electronic Clearing House, Inc.
Donna Rehman, 805-419-8533
corp@ECHO-inc.com
http://www.echo-inc.com
or
Financial Relations Board
Amy Cozamanis, 310-854-8314
acozamanis@financialrelationsboard.com
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