Higher One - Secureteam

Financial Services Company Provides Colleges & Universities Solution to Reduce Risk of Financial Data Theft

NEW HAVEN, CT, September 26, 2005 - Higher One, a financial services company that provides Refund Management and banking
services to higher education institutions recently launched the
'Higher One SecuriTeam' to engage employees in a positive way to introduce new security measures and create increased consciousness of the importance of data security. Higher One, which is becoming recognized as one solution colleges and universities can use to reduce the risk and liability in keeping student bank account information in their systems, is committed to building a culture where each employee takes pride in being actively engaged in protecting customer data. In fact, the 'Higher One SecuriTeam,' which was launched in August, has created the slogan "Protecting Customer Data - It's Our Duty."

In order to continue to increase the safety and security of customer data, Higher One will be implementing more physical and data security measures. The 'Higher One SecuriTeam' program is an internal marketing effort that will enhance Higher One's commitment to customer data security.

Similar to how colleges and universities work with a payroll company to streamline employee payments, they work with Higher One to streamline financial refund and other payments to students, faculty, and staff. As a company that handles consumers' money, consumer privacy and protection of consumer data is tantamount to the ongoing success of the business. The 'SecuriTeam' program comprises a series of training and internal marketing efforts to enhance this privacy and protection.

According to the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center, nearly half of the publicized incidents of data breach since January occurred at universities. Many colleges and universities, which are in the education business not the banking or cyber security business, are taking on a larger than necessary amount of risk by being involved in the collection and storage of students' bank account data to streamline students' account processes. Higher One's OneDisburse Refund Management enables schools to reduce risk and liability by having Higher One collect and maintain the information in systems with security that goes beyond that required by federal and state laws and guidelines.

The 'SecuriTeam' is another added measure Higher One has created within the last month to further enhance their customers' protection. In addition to adding increased security measures, all Higher One employees are required to take the 'SecuriTeam Oath' and attend security training sessions. On a quarterly basis, Higher One will also distribute a company-wide 'SecuriTeam Bulletin' to remind employees of the company's commitment to security and their responsibilities under the 'SecuriTeam Oath.'

Higher One takes their college and university clients' privacy and online security very seriously and understands the importance of protecting the safety and confidentiality of the information provided by students, treating it with the utmost security and respect. Higher One not only has secure data systems and educational programs, but they significantly reduce the risk and liability formerly shouldered by the college or university.

"Business officers must ensure that the security of information is a top priority when implementing business process improvement," said Earle Holley, VP for Business and Finance of Kennesaw State University. "We considered starting our own ACH direct deposit program, but immediately realized that we did not want to nor were we prepared to take on the risk of storing student bank information on our servers, or archive paper forms. Choosing Higher One's OneDisburse Refund Management enabled us to avoid the overhead of running an ACH program and the security risks of storing sensitive student information."

Colleges and universities store a lot of student information, which causes school IT systems to often become targeted by hackers. Therefore, outsourcing financial services to companies such as Higher One can prove very beneficial to the school, by reducing the amount of data stored in school systems.

"The primary focus for schools is education, not banking or cyber security," said Miles Lasater, Chief Operations Officer of Higher One. "Schools looking to provide electronic disbursements to their students are opening themselves up to risks. However, schools can avoid such risks by working with Higher One, which assumes all risk and responsibility, in addition to helping schools reduce administrative costs, streamline business processes and increase student customer service. The 'SecuriTeam' program is just another avenue we have created to protect customer data. Using our service allows schools to put a higher focus on their students and their education."

Higher One has been providing Refund Management to colleges and universities across the US since 2002. Higher One's program at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX generated $240,000 in net cost avoidance in the first semester alone, and after subtracting the initial costs of establishing a card office - produced about $400,000 in gross cost avoidance for the year. The State University of West Georgia and Kennesaw State University have both documented substantial, measurable impacts on the institutional operations and were presented with the "2004 Best Practices Award" for their implementation of Higher One's Refund Management disbursement service by the State University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

More than 32 Colleges and Universities across the country have signed with Higher One to use the company's Refund Management. Since September 2002, Higher One has helped its clients disburse almost a billion dollars through more than 475,000 individual payments.

About Higher One

Founded in 2000, Higher One provides higher education institutions and their students with efficient, convenient and easy-to-use solutions to handle financial disbursements. These include: student refunds, on-campus and community purchases, payroll and employee expenses, as well as the collection of payments from students, parents, and sponsors.

Higher One offers a suite of online banking services including the OneAccount, an FDIC-insured checking account, and OneCard, a Debit MasterCard^®. To date, Higher One has disbursed over $4 billion dollars in refunds for its clients to more than 1,000,000 students, faculty, and staff at distinguished public and private higher education institutions throughout the country.

Higher One recently ranked # 85 on the 2007 Inc. List of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the United States. Higher One is based in New Haven, CT.