Electronic Clearing House (ECHO) Receives Notice of Allowance for an Internet-Based Check Cashing and Clearing Patent

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 2006--Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO), a leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing services, is pleased to announce that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a new patent covering Internet-Based Check Cashing and Clearing. "The corresponding patent should be issued within the next several months," said Matthew Jakubowshi of Brooks Kushman P.C., patent counsel for ECHO.

"The new patent generally pertains to methods and apparatuses to electronically clear and cash a check submitted to an online merchant from an online consumer by electronic means," said CEO Jody Barry. "We are very pleased with the opportunities this new patent provides. Internet purchases are increasing dramatically each year and ECHO is well positioned to take advantage of this growth."

“We are very pleased with the opportunities this new patent provides. Internet purchases are increasing dramatically each year and ECHO is well positioned to take advantage of this growth.”

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.