ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE INC
10-Q/A, 1998-08-05
FUNCTIONS RELATED TO DEPOSITORY BANKING, NEC
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                          UNITED STATES
               SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                     Washington, D.C. 20549

                                             
                            FORM 10-Q
                                             


(Mark One)
 X   Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities 
     Exchange Act of 1934

For the period ended June 30, 1998

                               OR

     Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities 
     Exchange Act of 1934


Commission File Number: 0-15245



                 ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.
        (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


               Nevada                             93-0946274           
          (State or other jurisdiction of         (I.R.S. Employer
           incorporation or organization)         Identification No.)


                         28001 Dorothy Drive, 
                 Agoura Hills, California 91301      
              (Address of principal executive offices)  


                    Telephone Number (818) 706-8999
                           www.echo-inc.com
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code; web site address)

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports 
required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or 
for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such 
reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 
90 days:    

                    Yes   X                  No          


     As of July 31, 1998, there were 15,100,541 shares of the Registrant's 
Common Stock outstanding.

                                                                               
  
                                                                      





                    ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.


                                 INDEX
                                   
                    PART I.  FINANCIAL INFORMATION

                                                            Page No.

                                             


Item 1.        Consolidated Financial Statements:



               Consolidated Balance Sheet                     3
                 June 30, 1998 and September 30, 1997

               Consolidated Statement of Operations           4  
                 Three months and nine months ended
                 June 30, 1998 and 1997

               Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows           5
                 Nine months ended June 30, 1998 and 1997

               Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements     6  
 
Item 2.        Management's Discussion and Analysis of        8
               Financial Condition and Results of                
               Operations



                      PART II.  OTHER INFORMATION           

Item 6.        Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K              14

               Signatures                                    15 
 <PAGE>

PART I.  FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1.  Consolidated Financial Statements
 
                 ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.
                   CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

                             ASSETS

                                            June 30September 30
                                             1998     1997
                                              (Unaudited)
Current assets: 
 Cash and cash equivalents . . . . . . . .$  1,917,000  $  772,000
 Restricted cash . . . . . . . . . . . . .     531,000     323,000
 Accounts receivable less allowance of 
  $1,804,000 and $1,025,000                    933,000   1,129,000
 Inventory less allowance of $162,000 
  and $70,000                                  682,000     749,000   
 Prepaid expenses and other assets . . . .      19,000      23,000
 Notes receivable from stockholders and 
  related parties less allowance of $148,000    87,000      51,000

    Total current assets . . . . . . . . .   4,169,000   3,047,000

Noncurrent assets:
  Long term receivables. . . . . . . . . .     318,000     373,000
  Property and equipment, net .. . . . . .   1,600,000   1,570,000      
  Real estate held for investment, net . .     252,000     252,000      
  Other assets, net. . . . . . . . . . . .     836,000     842,000 
 
                                            $7,175,000  $6,084,000     


                 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Current liabilities:
 Short-term borrowings and current portion of 
  long-term debt                         $  111,000  $   150,000
 Accounts payable  . . . . . . . . . .       41,000      112,000      
 Accrued expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . .  999,000      731,000

    Total current liabilities. . . . . . .1,151,000      993,000      

Long-term debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  655,000      681,000  

    Total liabilities. . . . . . . . . . .1,806,000    1,674,000


Stockholders' equity:
 Convertible preferred stock, $.01 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized:
  Series "H", 23,511 shares issued and outstanding 
  Series "K", 325,000 and 375,000 shares issued and outstanding3,0004,000
  Series "L", 168,000 and 172,000 shares issued and outstanding2,0002,000
 Common stock, $.01 par value, 26,000,000 authorized:
  15,090,541 and 14,600,541 shares issued; 15,084,300 and
  14,594,300 shares outstanding. . . . . .  151,000  146,000
 Additional paid-in capital. . . . . . . .14,124,00013,865,000    
 Accumulated deficit . . . . . . . . . . . (8,911,000) (9,607,000)

    Total stockholders' equity . . . . . .  5,369,000    4,410,000

                                         $7,175,000$6,084,000     

     See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
                                                                                
 
                                                                



                   ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.
                CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS 




                                          Three Months  Nine Months
                                          Ended June 30Ended June 30
                                        1998        19971998         1997
                                           (Unaudited)  (Unaudited)
Revenues:
 Bankcard processing revenue . . . . $3,344,000$2,881,000$8,634,000$8,752,000
 Bankcard transactions fees. . . . . .1,790,000 1,288,000 4,802,000 3,358,000
 Terminal sales and lease revenue. . . .927,000 1,426,000 1,919,000 2,213,000
 Check guarantee fees  . . . . . . . . . 14,000    19,000    47,000    65,000
 Research and development. . . . . . . . 31,000    38,000   104,000   153,000   

                                      6,106,000 5,652,00015,506,00014,541,000

Costs and expenses:
 Bankcard processing and transactions 
  expense                             4,050,000 3,223,000 10,230,000 9,154,000
 Cost of terminals sold and leased . . .582,000 1,002,000  1,270,000 1,601,000
 Check guarantee   . . . . . . . . . . .  5,000     7,000     17,000    30,000
 Customer service  . . . . . . . . . . . 96,000   104,000    285,000   308,000
 Selling, general and administrative . .873,000   928,000  2,674,000 2,492,000
 Research and development  . . . . . . . 85,000    98,000    289,000   293,000
                                                                                
 
   
                              
                                      5,691,000 5,362,000 14,765,00013,878,000

      Income from operations . . . . . .415,000   290,000    741,000   663,000

Interest income. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,000    19,000     76,000    48,000
Interest expense . . . . . . . . . . . .(26,000)  (52,000)   (80,000)(193,000)  
Forfeited deposit. . . . . . . . . . . .(35,000)             (35,000)
Loss reserve for notes receivable. . . .          (23,000)            (46,000)
 
     Income before provision for 
       income taxes                     387,000   234,000    702,000  472,000


Provision for income taxes . . . . .     (4,000)   (1,000)   (6,000)  (3,000)

          Net income . . . . . . . . .$ 383,000 $ 233,000 $ 696,000 $  469,000


          Earnings per share - Basic  $   0.026 $   0.016 $   0.047  $   0.036
 
          Earnings per share - Diluted$   0.018 $   0.011 $   0.032  $   0.024





    See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

                                  


                     ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.
                  CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

 


                                                  Nine Months
                                                Ended June 30,
                                                 1998    1997
                                                  (unaudited)
Cash flows from operating activities:
 Net income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$696,000$469,000
 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net
   cash provided by operating activities:
  Depreciation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169,000142,000
  Amortization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69,000    -   
  Provisions for losses on accounts and notes receivable779,000488,000
  Provision for obsolete inventory. . . . . . .92,000  34,000
  Fair value of stock issued in connection with legal settlement-12,000
Changes in assets and liabilities:
  Restricted cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(208,000)28,000
  Accounts receivable . . . . . . . . . . . . .(528,000)(898,000)
  Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(25,000)(367,000)
  Prepaid expenses and other assets . . . . . . 4,000   5,000
  Other assets, net . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(63,000)(146,000)
  Accounts payable  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(71,000)181,000
  Accrued expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  268,000   163,000

           
 Net cash provided by operating activities. . .1,182,000    111,000

Cash flows from investing activities:
  Purchase of equipment.. . . . . . . . . . . .  (142,000)  (100,000)
 

 Net cash used in investing activities. . . . .     (142,000)   (100,000)

Cash flows from financing activities:
 Increase in notes receivable from stockholders
  and related parties . . . . . . . . . . . . .(36,000)  -   
 Proceeds from issuance of notes payable. . . .  -    150,000
 Repayment of notes payable . . . . . . . . . .(122,000)(139,000)
 Proceeds from issuance of preferred stock  . .200,000   -   
    Proceeds from common stock warrants exercised50,000129,000
 Proceeds from exercise of stock options. . . .    13,000    59,000

 Net cash provided by financing activities. . .    105,000   199,000
 
Net increase in cash. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,145,000210,000
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period   772,000   172,000
 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period. . .$1,917,000$ 382,000



      See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.



                 ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.
           NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS





NOTE 1 - Basis of presentation:

     The accompanying consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 1998,
and for the three and nine month periods then ended are unaudited and reflect 
all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) which are,
in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the 
financial position and the results of operations for the interim periods. The
consolidated financial statements herein should be read in conjunction with 
the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, together with 
management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of 
operations, contained in the Company's Annual Report to Stockholders 
incorporated by reference in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended September 30, 1997.  The result of operations for the three
and nine months ended June 30, 1998 are not necessarily indicative of the likely
results for the entire fiscal year ending September 30, 1998. 

NOTE 2 - Earnings per share:

     In February 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued 
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 128 - Earnings per Share 
(SFAS 128).  SFAS 128 requires companies with complex capital structures that
have publicly held common stock or common stock equivalents to present both 
basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) on the face of the income 
statement.  The presentation of basic EPS replaces the presentation of 
primary EPS previously required by Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 15 
(APB 15). Basic EPS is calculated as income available to common shareholders 
divided by the weightedaverage number of shares outstanding during the 
period.  Diluted EPS (previously referred to as fully diluted EPS) is 
calculated using the "if converted" method of convertible securities
and the treasury stock method for options and warrants as prescribed by APB 
15.  The Company has adopted the provisions of this statement in the quarter 
ended March 31, 1998. Adoption of this statement did not have a material 
effect on earnings per share.

     Earnings per share for the three month and nine month periods ended June 
30, 1998 and 1997 are calculated based on the following number of weighted 
average shares:

              Three Months Ended        Nine Months Ended
                   June 30,                 June 30,
                 1998     1997           1998      1997

Basic          15,026,78314,399,223     14,931,48612,927,935

Diluted        21,933,80420,729,224     21,818,83019,480,881


NOTE 3 - Non-cash transactions

Significant non-cash transaction for the nine months ended June 30, 1998 was 
as follows:

  - Capital equipment of $57,000 was acquired under capital leases


Significant non-cash transactions for the nine months ended June 30, 1997 
were as follows:

  - $900,000 of convertible notes were converted into 2,200,000 shares of the 
    Company's common stock

  - 82,345 shares of common stock were issued in settlement of $69,000 of the
    Company's obligations<PAGE>

ITEM 2.   MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
          CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS



When used in the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition 
and Results of Operations or elsewhere in this document, the word "believes", 
"anticipates", "contemplates", and similar expressions are intended to 
identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain 
risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected.  Those risks and uncertainties include changes in
laws and regulations affecting the Company's primary lines of business.  The 
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any 
revisions to those forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect 
events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of 
unanticipated events.



Result of Operations

Three Months Ended June 30, 1998 and 1997

Revenues.    Electronic Clearing House, Inc. recorded a net income of $383,000
for the third quarter of fiscal year 1998 as compared to a net income of 
$233,000 in the same fiscal quarter last year, a 64.4% increase. Overall 
revenue increased 8.0% over the same period in the prior year. The increase 
reflected revenue growth of 23.1% in bankcard processing and transactions 
revenue which is partially offset by a 35.0% decrease in terminal sales and 
lease revenue over the same period in the prior fiscal year.

The increase in processing and transaction revenue can be attributable to three
areas.  First, the increase in processing volume from its growing merchant 
base along with an overall rate increase assessed against the entire merchant
base as a result of the interchange rate increases announced by Visa and 
MasterCard in April 1998.  Secondly, the increase in inventory transaction 
volume with U-Haul International due to additional systems deployed during the
current year.  Lastly, the implementation of certain industry specific fees 
in the current fiscal year.  

In 1997, ECHO developed the ECHODETECT program, the automated risk/fraud 
detection systems which is now fully operational.  ECHODETECT has proven to 
be very effective in identifying and limiting fraudulent activity for the 
Company.  This capability has also resulted in several decisions to terminate
or limit a merchant's processing volume in order to maintain an appropriate 
risk/reward relationship.



A new feature, the ECHOLINK service, has been added to the Company's Internet 
suite of products and is in final beta phase with approximately thirty 
merchants. The ECHOLINK service allows a merchant to securely review all of 
his historic processing data over the Internet.  A capability of the ECHOLINK
program that appears to have significant value to the merchant is next-day 
knowledge of chargeback activity.  A chargeback is a reversal of a sales 
transaction initiated by the cardholder through the card issuing bank.  
Normally, banks advise merchants of chargebacks by mail and, since both Visa 
and MasterCard allow a limited number of days for a merchant to refute a 
chargeback, next-day access to such activity is a significant advantage to a 
merchant. The ECHOLINK program also provides a merchant with a full and 
immediate history of all debit and credit transactions for any credit card 
holder that submits a chargeback.  This allows the merchant to quickly 
determine if they have already credited a particular customer and, if they 
have, reverse the chargeback. The Company's ECHOLINK service thereby 
1) eliminates a merchant's need to spend excessive time investigating a 
chargeback and looking for source documents; 2) stops inadvertent double 
credits from occurring; (3) reduces the amount of mail and paperwork normally
associated with chargebacks; and 4) saves considerable time in responding to 
chargeback activity.

The Company intends to charge a monthly access fee for its ECHOLINK service and 
a small transaction fee for each transaction stored in the ECHOLINK database.
Access and retrieval by merchants of their specific data will be unlimited.  
Based upon the growing functionality of the Company's Internet suite of 
products with features such as the ECHOLINK service, the Company anticipates 
additional growth in merchant volume when the ECHOLINK service is officially 
released to all merchants in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998.

In February 1998, the Company announced its release of the ECHOTEL system, a 
low-cost processing solution for small volume merchants and/or home-based 
businesses who wish to accept credit cards.  The ECHOTEL system allows a 
common touchtone telephone to be used as an entry device, eliminating the 
merchant's need to purchase higher cost point-of-sale processing equipment.  
The ECHOTEL program is presently being marketed in four methods: 1) through 
home business seminars; 2) in a telemarketing campaign; 3) as an in-box flyer
with several retail software products; and 4) through direct mail to 
franchises and multi-level marketing organizations.

The market segment of home-based merchants is one of the fastest growing market 
segments in today's merchant marketplace.  The Company intends to continue to
market to this niche merchant base and in so doing: 1) secure significant 
application fee income at the initiation of each new ECHOTEL relationship; 
2) establish a positive relationship with potentially thousands of small 
merchants that may, in a percentage of cases, turn into future point-of-sale 
equipment sales and higher processing revenues; 3) establish an annual 
renewal fee income (previously not a norm in this industry); and 4) promote 
ECHO as a credit card processor who has designed and enabled several 
cost-effective data entry methods for merchants to utilize as they grow.



Revenue related to terminal sales is recognized when the equipment is shipped.  
Terminal sales and lease revenue for the three months ended June 30, 1998 
were $926,000 which represented a 35.0% decrease over the same fiscal quarter
last year.  The decrease reflected the delivery of approximately 1,600 
systems to U-Haul International in the current fiscal quarter versus 1,700 
U-Haul systems and 175 systems to the United States Postal Service ("USPS") 
under a pilot program awarded to the Company in the same fiscal quarter last
year.  The systems are actively being installed in dealer locations by the 
national rental organization and a majority of the new systems are expected 
to be operational by July 31, 1998, when the high volume summer rental 
season arrives.  The Company has reviewed and, as necessary, upgraded its 
data center processing systems to assure that the added transaction
volume from the new systems can be handled with confidence.

Research and development revenue decreased $7,000 for the current fiscal 
quarter over the same fiscal quarter last year. The Company provided software
and hardware to the USPS for the development and deployment of automated 
money order dispensing systems under a pilot program awarded to Computer 
Based Controls Inc.("CBC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The 
USPS extended the pilot program in January 1998 to incorporate additional 
features into the overall systems.  CBC designed and implemented the requested
features and a successful First Article Test of the new features was 
completed by the USPS in late June of 1998.  Completion of this phase of the 
pilot program was deemed successful by the USPS on July 7, 1998.  Additional 
features are being incorporated to further reduce paperwork and increase the 
speed of service, two primary goals of the USPS.  To meet this need, the USPS
has now authorized a follow-on project to the original pilot program. 
Additionally, the USPS has requested the integration of the terminal provided
by the Company to operate with specific printers the USPS uses in its higher 
volume locations.  

Check guarantee fees decreased by $5,000 for the current fiscal quarter when 
compared with the same fiscal quarter last year. The reduction is the result 
of the absence of active marketing or development of the Company's check 
guarantee services.  The Company has determined that it should continue its 
check guarantee service and anticipates adding check verification and check 
truncation on a national basis. Check verification is a service that, for a 
small transaction fee, allows a merchant to interrogate a negative file of 
bad check writers to see if a current check writer is in the file.  No 
guarantee is given and the merchant must make the decision themselves on 
taking a check if the writer is found to be in the negative file.  Check 
truncation includes check verification and immediately converts a paper check 
into an electronic settlement transaction at the merchant's location.  
Several national databases of negative check writers are available to the 
Company and evaluation of these sources is presently underway to determine 
which database would best meet the Company's and merchants' needs.

Cost and Expenses.    Bankcard processing expenses have generally remained 
constant as a percentage of processing revenue.  A majority of the Company's 
bankcard processing expenses are fixed as a percentage of each transaction 
amount, with the remaining costs being based on a fixed rate applied to the 
transactions processed.  Processing-related expenses, consisting of bankcard 
processing expense, transaction expense and customer service expense, 
increased 24.6% in the current fiscal quarter over the same fiscal period last 
year.  This was in direct relation to the 23.1% increase in processing and 
transaction revenues. Furthermore, management has decided to provide 
additional reserve against certain chargeback receivables from several former
merchants during the current quarter due to the uncertainty of a full 
recovery.  The Company is aggressively pursuing to recover these chargeback 
receivables through legal means.

Cost of terminals sold and leased decreased 41.9% in the second quarter of 
fiscal year 1998 as compared to the same fiscal quarter last year.  This 
relates directly to the 35.0% decrease in terminal and lease sales for the 
current fiscal quarter.

Research and development expense for the current fiscal quarter remained 
relatively constant when compared with the same fiscal quarter last year.  
This is reflective of the on-going investments made by the Company both in 
programming personnel and specialized developmental equipment.
 
Check guarantee expense decreased $2,000 for the current fiscal quarter when 
compared with the same fiscal quarter in the prior year.  This is consistent 
with the $5,000 decrease in check guarantee revenue.

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 5.9% in the current 
fiscal quarter as compared to the same fiscal quarter last year.  This was 
mainly attributable to the lower legal fees which was partially offset by 
higher employee-related costs associated with the 8.0% overall revenue 
increase and the incremental increase in operating costs to support the
Company's infrastructure.
 

Nine Months Ended June 30, 1998 and 1997

Revenues.    Electronic Clearing House, Inc. recorded a net income of
$696,000 for the nine months ended June 30, 1998 as compared to a net income 
of $469,000 for the same period last fiscal year, an increase of  48.4%.  
This is indicative of the 10.9% increase in processing and transaction 
revenue and a 6.2% improvement in gross margin related to terminal sales as 
compared to the same nine month period last fiscal year.

As a percentage of total revenue, processing and transaction revenue 
accounted for 86.6% of the total revenue for the nine month period ended June 
30, 1998 as compared to 83.3% for the same period in the prior fiscal year.  
Terminal sales accounted for 12.4% of the total revenue for the nine months 
ended June 30, 1998 as compared to 15.2% for the same period in the prior 
fiscal year.

Research and development revenue decreased 32.0% for the nine months ended 
June 30, 1998 as compared with the same nine month period last year.  This 
was primarily a result of less software engineering development work 
requested by existing customers.

Check guarantee fees decreased $18,000, a 27.7% decrease for the nine months 
ended June 30, 1998 over the same period last year.  

Overall, the Company's total revenue increased 6.6% for the nine months ended
June 30, 1998 as compared to the same nine month period last year.




Cost and Expenses.   Processing-related expenses increased 11.8% for the nine
months ended June 30, 1998 as compared to the same nine month period last 
year.  This is consistent with the 10.9% increase in processing and 
transaction revenue.  Gross margin on bankcard processing decreased to 23.9% 
for the nine months ended June 30, 1998 as compared to 24.4% for the same 
nine months ended June 30, 1997.  The decrease in gross margin is the
results of management's decision to provide additional reserve against 
certain chargeback receivables on several former merchants during the quarter
ended June 30, 1998 which is partially offset by the implementation of 
certain industry specific fees. 

Cost of terminals sold and leased decreased 20.7% for the nine month period 
ended June 30, 1998 as compared to the same nine month period last year. This
was in direct relation to the 13.3% decrease in terminal sales and lease 
revenue.  Gross margin improved from 27.7% for the nine month period ended 
June 30, 1997 to 33.8% for the nine month period ended June 30, 1998.

Research and development expense remained relatively constant for the nine 
month period ended June 30, 1998 as compared to the same nine month period 
last year.  This reflects the on-going strategic investments made by the 
Company in order to be competitive in the electronic commerce industry.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 7.3% for the nine 
months ended June 30, 1998 over the same nine months period last year.  As a 
percentage of total revenue, selling, general and administrative expenses 
remained constant, from 17.1% for the nine months ended June 30, 1997 to 
17.2% for the nine months ended June 30, 1998.  This is mainly due to the 
higher employee-related costs in order to support the growth of the
Company.



LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

As of June 30, 1998, the Company had available cash of $1,917,000, restricted
cash of $531,0000 in reserve with its primary processing banks and a working 
capital of $3,018,000. Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful 
accounts, decreased $196,000 during the nine month period ended June 30, 
1998.   This was mainly the result of the additional reserve provided against
certain chargeback receivables.

At the present, the Company's cash flows from operations is sufficient to 
support the required research and development costs and marketing costs.  

The Company's current ratio improved from 2.14 to 1 at June 30, 1997 to 3.62 
to 1 at June 30, 1998.  The Company's debt to equity ratio also improved from
 .58 to 1 at June 30, 1997 to .34 to 1 at June 30, 1998. 

OTHER - YEAR 2000 ISSUE

Many existing computer systems and related software applications, and other 
control devices, use only two digits to identify a year in a date field, 
without considering the impact of the upcoming change in the century.  Such 
systems, applications and/or devices could fail or create erroneous results 
unless corrected so that they can process data related to the Year
2000. The Company relies on such computer systems, applications and devices 
in operating and monitoring all major aspects of its business, including, but 
not limited to, its financial systems, customer services, internal networks 
and telecommunication equipment, and end products.  The Company also relies, 
directly and indirectly, on the external systems or various independent 
business enterprises, such as its customers, sponsoring banks, suppliers,
creditors, financial organizations, and of governments for the accurate 
exchange of data and related information.

The Company has a plan under way to evaluate the potential impact of the Year
2000 issues on its business and the related expenses that would foreseeably 
be incurred in attempting to remedy such impact (including testing and 
implementation of remedial action).  Key management has been reassigned to 
implement the plan and, other than the cost of such management and the 
resultant loss of their contribution to other revenue generating activities
of the Company, substantial new costs are not anticipated to be incurred.  
Therefore, management's current estimate is that the costs associated with 
the Year 2000 issue will not have a material adverse affect on the results of
operations or financial position of the Company.  However, despite 
management's plan to address the Year 2000 impact on the Company's internal 
systems, no assurance can be given that management has fully identified
such impact or that management can resolve it without disruption of the 
business and without incurring significant expenses.  In addition, even if 
the internal systems of the Company are not materially affected by the Year 
2000 issue, the Company could be affected adversely as a result of any 
disruption in the operation of the various third-party enterprises with which
the Company interacts.<PAGE>



PART II.  OTHER INFORMATION



Item 6.  Exhibits and Reports on form 8-K

No reports on Form 8-K were filed during the quarter ended June 30, 1998.

                                   
               
<PAGE>



                           SIGNATURES



    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the 
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the 
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


                         ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE, INC.
                                               (Registrant)



Date: August 3, 1998               By: \s\Alice Cheung          
                 
  
                                        Alice Cheung, Treasurer and
                                         Chief Financial Officer  
                                          
                                       


    

 

         

<TABLE> <S> <C>

<ARTICLE> 5
<MULTIPLIER> 1,000
       
<S>                             <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE>                   9-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END>                          SEP-30-1998
<PERIOD-END>                               JUN-30-1998
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