Higher One - recognized by CR80-News as leading provider of campus card-based banking & payment programs

Financial Services Company Doubles Client Base in 2005

NEW HAVEN, CT, November 29th, 2005 - Higher One, a financial services company that provides Refund Management disbursement and banking services to higher education institutions, is a key player in the campus card banking industry, servicing more clients than several national banks. With 33 college and university clients where students can choose a Higher One OneAccount through a refund or ID card, Higher One currently serves more clients than any other company providing campus card banking services. In the last year, there was a 106 percent increase in the number of colleges and universities that chose to partner with Higher One to provide their students with an ID or Refund Card-based campus banking and payments program.

A recent survey conducted by CR80News, a weekly education industry publication that explores the utilization of card technologies, shows that the number of ID-based partnerships Higher One serves has increased 185 percent since 2003. This quantitative survey also ranks Higher One second in the ID-based campus card banking industry, based on the number of clients who integrate Higher One's OneDisburse^® program with their campus ID. The article also notes that a significant number of Higher One clients have chosen to offer the services through a separate "Refund Card" model. Higher One is the only industry provider to offer the choice of ID integration or "Refund Card" to higher education institutions. To view the survey directly, visit www.cr80news.com

"We take a great amount of pride in the services we provide our clients and it is great to know we are leading the college and university card-based banking industry. Our patent-pending OneDisburse^® Refund Management disbursement service is the best way for an institution to improve the student payment experience, and is a primary reason that card-based Refund Managements are becoming a trend in higher education," said Dean Hatton, President and CEO, Higher One. "While we have just started to tap our potential as a company, we are certainly happy to already be making a large impact in the industry."

With its most successful term yet, Higher One has now helped its clients process more than a billion dollars in financial refund disbursements. Higher One is continuing to expand both their company and customer base, with 2005 revenue projections expected to present the most profitable year ever. The company is expanding, adding additional employees to continuously improve service to students and administrators. The company's headcount grew by approximately 50 percent in 2005 and anticipates growing by 80 percent in 2006.

The overall campus card banking industry has recently experienced an increased interest from colleges and universities. A growing number of schools across the country are adopting new card-based refund programs to deliver financial aid, payroll, and other payments to students. With today's students demanding more when it comes to the services and convenience they expect from their educational institutions, cards offer the perfect platform to deliver multiple services, from student identification, building and event access and on-campus stored value programs, to advanced financial services including Debit cards and online banking options.

Leading the trend within higher education, New Haven, CT-based Higher One has become the standard of service for American higher education institutions looking for ways to improve the payment process. Higher One's patent-pending OneDisburse^® Refund Management disbursement service service is the most efficient, student-centric, and cost-effective way of making payments to students. Higher One started with a unique understanding of students' needs, as the company was founded by three students who were looking to provide a service to benefit not only students, but also the schools they attend.

"We are currently providing a valuable service to 33 higher education institutions across the nation," added Hatton. "We are dedicated exclusively to serving the higher education marketplace, and we continually seek feedback from administrators and students through our project managers, customer service, student liaison, and other channels. We look forward to continuing to grow with our customers and partners."

Schools disburse approximately $15 billion in refund disbursements to students per year through more than 15 million payments. The processing and handling of these payments, along with associated customer services, is estimated to cost schools over $225 million per year. Higher One's OneDisburse Refund Management can vastly improve the student payment experience, and clients have reported significant administrative cost avoidance through adoption of the program.

Higher One has been providing Refund Management disbursement and banking services to colleges and universities, and their students, across the US since 2002. Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX reported that their Higher One Bearkat OneCard program 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 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 OneDisburse Refund Management by the State University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

33 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 more than a billion dollars through over half a million 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.