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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ohio Credit Union League joins Ohio Bankers League and Ohio Attorney General to Prevent Identity Theft and Financial Crime through ‘FinCrime.com’

DUBLIN, OHIO (Jan. 16, 2004) – The Ohio Credit Union League today joined the Ohio Bankers League and Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro as a participant in the multi-state FinCrime Network, an Internet-based alert and database system that helps financial institutions and law enforcement agencies share information, prevent financial crimes and catch criminals.

“With FinCrime, the instant sharing of information among credit unions and law enforcement will lead to more arrests and reduce financial loss,” said Attorney General Jim Petro, who first unveiled www.FinCrime.com in Ohio on Oct. 8, 2003.

With the participation of the Ohio Credit Union League, nearly 500 credit unions affiliated with the state trade association will have free access to the FinCrime network.

“Credit unions in Ohio have now joined banks, the Attorney General’s office and law enforcement in a system that helps prevent identity theft and similar crimes by sharing important information about specific crimes and criminals,” said Paul Mercer, the President of the Ohio Credit Union League. “We are now all working together to protect Ohio consumers from check fraud, counterfeit checks and other financial crimes, and to catch criminals before they strike again.”

John Kozlowski, General Counsel for the Ohio Credit Union League, says that FinCrime is something that credit unions have been interested in as financial crimes continue. “Credit unions have continued to inquire on how to share information on financial crimes with other credit unions. By participating in FinCrime, credit unions will not only be able to share information on financial crimes with other credit unions, but also benefit from sharing and receiving information from other financial institutions as well.”

FinCrime functions as a clearinghouse of information where authorized participants use their Web browsers to submit fraud data into a central repository. FinCrime allows users to search the database to find fraud incidents in common with their own cases. All users must be authenticated and approved by the network administrator or one of the sponsoring associations.

FinCrime is sponsored by the state bankers associations in Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. More states are expected to join the program. The Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) monitors trends in financial crime using FinCrime and alerts local law enforcement of fraudulent activity.

Key Features of FinCrime include: Free registration for financial institutions and law enforcement personnel; Automatic notifications regarding incidents within a user’s defined areas of interest or regions; A fully searchable database on any given criteria including name, date, region, or type of fraud; E-mail links to the individual who posted an incident’s information; and, Automatic checking and notification of new incident entries that cross references with an existing entry.

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The Ohio Credit Union League, with offices in Dublin, Ohio, is a state trade association representing nearly 500 credit unions. Credit unions are not-for-profit financial institutions owned and democratically controlled by their members/owners. Ohio credit unions are cooperatives and provide savings, loans, and other consumer financial services to their nearly 3 million members/owners. To learn more, visit www.OhioCreditUnions.org.