Electronic ClearinghouseDebuts

NEW YORK - (08/19/05) -- Clearing House Payments Co. LLC saidit has begun providing automated settlement for checks clearedthrough its image exchange network, the third national network tobegin offering automated settlement since the start of the year.The automated settlement services are being offered through thecompany's SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Service, now known as SVPCOImage Payments Network, which has emerged as a major rival to theEndpoint Exchange and Fiserv clearing networks. The SVPCO system isdesigned specifically to clear electronic payments, slightlydifferent from the other networks, which are designed for papercheck clearing. SVPCO touts its system as the only private-sectorimage network that offers integrated settlement with imageexchange. SVPCO is using its connection to the Federal ReserveSystem to provide multilateral net settlement twice a day, at noonand at 4 pm. The network is the product of mergers of the WesternPayments Alliance, Chicago Clearing House Association, ConnecticutClearing House Corp., Northeast Regional Check Exchange-Long IslandArrangement, and Liberty Clearing House Association (New Jersey andPhiladelphia. SVPCO is owned by several of the largest banks,including Wells Fargo, Key Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America,Citibank, Wachovia and SunTrust.