Company Press Release ECHO Certifies Theta Band's WarpCharge Software AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--Aug. 31, 1999--Electronic Clearing House Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO - news) announced the certification of WarpCharge software written by Theta Band Software LLC. WarpCharge, a new online payment program for IBM OS/2 that works exclusively with ECHONLINE(SM) service, enables Web sites to securely process credit card transactions directly over the Internet. ECHO is the only processor that has certified WarpCharge to date. WarpCharge uses SSL technology to securely transmit transactions to ECHO over the Internet, rather than requiring the use of a modem to establish a dial-up connection to a bank for each transaction. This yields a substantial improvement in processing time over the traditional dial-up approach. ``Several software houses have built NT-based and UNIX-based credit card processing interfaces for use on the Internet but WarpCharge is the first program ECHO has seen that has addressed the needs of the largely untapped IBM OS/2 marketplace of users,'' stated Larry Brown, vice president and chief technical officer of ECHO. ``We're pleased to be working with such technically accomplished people as we see at Theta Band Software LLC.'' ``I'm pleased that Theta Band has introduced WarpCharge to the marketplace,'' said Timothy Sipples, senior technical specialist, IBM Network Computing Software. ``WarpCharge should prove to be a popular revenue-generating tool for IBM's Web-savvy customers, particularly those enjoying the benefits of IBM's new OS/2 Warp Server for e-business.'' Theta Band Software, with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., was founded in 1997 and develops Internet and multimedia software products for IBM OS/2 Warp that are marketed and sold on the World Wide Web. Electronic Clearing House is an electronic payment processor that serves more than 19,000 retail merchants and U-Haul dealers nationwide and processes all major credit cards; check conversion, truncation, verification and guarantee; inventory tracking; and Internet-based transactions. ECHO is also a systems integrator and designer of both software and/or hardware systems that are presently being used as credit card processing terminals, inventory tracking devices, automated money order dispensers and casino cash advance systems. To take advantage of the new ``safe harbor'' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, readers are hereby cautioned that this release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual operations and results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements made by the company. Contact: Electronic Clearing House Inc., Agoura Hills Donna Camras, 818/706-8999, ext. 3033 http://www.echo-inc.com corp@echo-inc.com or Theta Band Software LLC, Santa Clara Julien Pierre http://www.thetaband.com julien@thetaband.com ================================================================== Santa Clara, Calif. - Theta Band Software LLC released WarpCharge, a new product that enables web sites to securely process credit card orders directly over the Internet. WarpCharge is the first credit card processing software available for the OS/2 platform. WarpCharge provides the missing piece in your OS/2 e-commerce solution : the payment system. "Until now, merchants running secure web sites on IBM OS/2 Warp Server for E-business had no means to process payments online. They could accept online orders, but had to process the payment manually." said Julien Pierre, President of Theta Band Software. "Shoppers like to get their purchase immediately, and by processing credit card payments automatically and in real-time, WarpCharge enables that sort of instant gratification." WarpCharge is not just for e-commerce - it can be used for nearly all types of businesses : whether you are taking credit card orders by mail, over the phone or real-time over the Internet, WarpCharge is the perfect solution. WarpCharge comes with sample CGI scripts for use on any secure OS/2 web server, so that you can start taking Internet orders immediately. WarpCharge also comes with an extensive REXX interface that lets developers integrate credit card processing facility into any REXX-enabled OS/2 application, or into custom applications. There are two editions of WarpCharge : WarpCharge Business WarpCharge Business is for any business that needs to process credit cards over the phone, web, or in custom REXX applications. WarpCharge for Internet Service Providers WarpCharge for ISPs lets Internet Service Providers offer credit card processing capability to all their customers. AVAILABILITY WarpCharge is available for purchase from the Theta Band Software web site at http://www.thetaband.com . WarpCharge Business requires a PC running IBM OS/2 Warp 4, OS/2 Warp Server or OS/2 Warp Server for E-Business. In addition, WarpCharge for ISPs requires an OS/2 secure web server program. ABOUT THETA BAND SOFTWARE LLC Theta Band Software, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, was founded in 1997 and develops Internet and multimedia software products for IBM OS/2 Warp that are marketed and sold on the world wide web. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Julien Pierre http://www.madbrain.com Theta Band Software LLC http://www.thetaband.com --------------------------------------------------------------------