FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Electronic Clearing House Inc. 
ECHO Settles Patent Litigation

Camarillo, Calif., April 3, 2006 - Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), a leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing services, announced today that it and its wholly owned subsidiary, XPRESSCHEX, Inc., have reached an agreement with LML Patent Corp. ("LML"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of LML Payment Systems Inc., to settle a litigation matter alleging infringement of certain LML patents.

Under the terms of the settlement, ECHO and XPRESSCHEX entered into an agreement to license LML's patents for electronic check conversion in the Direct Consumer Field (NACHA standard entry class code "POP"), including LML's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,354,491; 5,484,988; 6,164,528 and 6,283,366.

Each of ECHO, XPRESSCHEX and LML also agreed, for a period continuing through April 1, 2009, not to initiate any other patent infringement claims in the United States or Canada against each other.

Specific financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are pleased to put the LML patent issue behind us. While we were confident in our own legal position, we felt reaching a settlement prior to a long and costly trial was the best option. With this settled, we can now dedicate our time and resources toward an effective execution of our strategic sales and operational initiatives," stated Joel Barry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ECHO.

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.

     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