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ECHO
Press Releases 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ECHO
Strengthens Its Management Team
Camarillo, Calif., May 18,
2006 -
Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), a
leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing
services, announced today that Karl Asplund has joined the Company in the
newly established position of Senior Vice President of Sales.
Mr. Asplund's background includes
nearly 18 years of administrative, organizational and technical
experience in the banking, electronic funds transfer and data
processing industries. Before joining ECHO, Mr. Asplund was
the Senior Vice President of Genpass Technologies in Irving, Texas.
Prior to that, he served as Group Manager of Business Development
for First USA/Paymentech in Dallas, Texas, and was the Founder and
President of Merchant Card Management Systems in Newport Beach,
California. Mr. Asplund's formal educational background includes a
BS degree in biology/chemistry from Brigham Young University in
Utah.
Commenting on the appointment of Karl
Asplund, Chuck Harris, President and COO of Electronic Clearing
House, said, "We are delighted that we were able to attract a
highly experienced industry veteran to fill this very important
position. In his new role, Karl will direct our sales development
activity on a company-wide basis. Our position as one of the only
processors offering a fully integrated credit and check solution to
both the online and card-present markets represents a clear
competitive advantage. Under Karl's leadership, a key imperative of
our sales team will be to educate the marketplace about our ability
to deliver this type of comprehensive payment processing
solution."
As an inducement to Mr. Asplund's
decision to enter into employment with ECHO, the Company
agreed to enter into a restricted stock grant agreement whereby Mr.
Asplund will be issued 10,000 shares of restricted stock. The shares
will vest over a period of five years, with 2,000 shares 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 will 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. Asplund 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.
Additionally, on March 13, 2006, Ryan
Granard joined the Company as Vice President of Datacenter
Operations. Ryan's professional career includes over 15 years of
technology leadership with significant experience building and
managing secure, high-availability, high transaction volume
operations. As an inducement to Mr. Granard's decision to enter into
employment with ECHO, the Company agreed to enter into a
restricted stock grant agreement whereby Mr. Granard will be issued
5,000 shares of restricted stock. The shares will vest over a period
of five years, with 1,000 shares 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 will 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.
Granard 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 statement regarding the
benefits of the addition of Mr. Asplund and Mr. Granard to ECHO.
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
Erin Cox, 310-854-8319
ecox@financialrelationsboard.com
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