TRE Financial Services Launches TurboCash; Alternative to Payday Loans for Credit Unions and Members

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2006--TRE Financial Services Inc. (TRE), a top provider of tax software and electronic filing services within the professional tax preparer and credit union environments, today announced the availability of TurboCash, a short-term lending solution designed to give credit unions a competitive advantage in the short-term loan market, as well as an opportunity to protect their members from the escalating debt trap of retail payday loans.

TurboCash uses a proven software platform for quick loan processing and tracking, can be quickly integrated into a credit union's portfolio of member services, and supports the original charter of the Federal Credit Union Act to make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions.

“it was important for us to create TurboCash as a 'win-win' product that gives credit unions a competitive advantage in the short-term loan market and offers credit union members a financially smart alternative for short term loans.”

Over the last fifteen years, short-term unsecured loans, often called "payday loans" because they are repaid on payday, have become a $50-billion-a-year industry, with more than 10,000 payday loan outlets throughout the United States. Consumers most often use payday loans to avoid the high fees associated with bouncing checks or pawnshops. Interest rates, however, can quickly reach an average annual percentage rate (APR) of over 600 percent, often trapping borrowers in a cycle of skyrocketing payoff amounts.

A two-year market study conducted by TRE indicates that more than twenty percent of payday loan customers are also members of a credit union. According to the National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions, there are currently more than 80 million credit union members nationwide, with deposits in excess of $500 billion in some 9,500 federally insured credit unions.

TurboCash offers credit unions the ability to make short-term loans to their members at a fraction of the cost typically charged in the retail payday loan environment. The program also gives credit unions the opportunity to offer financial literacy education to their members. "Given our long history with credit unions," said TRE CEO Andrew Priest, "it was important for us to create TurboCash as a 'win-win' product that gives credit unions a competitive advantage in the short-term loan market and offers credit union members a financially smart alternative for short term loans."

The TurboCash system is already supporting more than 250,000 loans per month. Setup is easy, with credit unions able to be up and running with TurboCash in forty-five days or less. Underwriting is automated and instantaneous, allowing credit unions to originate loans quickly and easily -- online, in branch, or over the phone. TurboCash can be integrated with state regulatory databases, and loan guarantees are available through LoanSafe.

About TRE Financial Services Inc.

TRE Financial Services Inc. is a tax software company that has been a recognized leader in tax software and electronic filing within the professional tax preparer and credit union environment since 1990. TRE provides an array of strategic products that provide tax solutions for every consumer. TRE products are developed with an emphasis on financial literacy for the consumer. Products include TurboCash, Orrtax Software Solutions, Credit Union Tax Services, Community Tax Service(R), and PrepareMyReturn.com. TRE electronically transmits millions of tax returns each year through thousands of tax professionals, with over 1,200 credit unions purchasing products from TRE today. For more information about TRE and its products, including TurboCash, visit the company's web site at www.trefs.com.