This news should move Priceline (PCLN) up today.
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Wednesday September 1, 6:05 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Priceline.com Forms Joint Venture With Alliance Capital Partners To
Offer Name-Your-Price Mortgages
STAMFORD, Conn. and JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 1, 1999--
Venture expected to increase savings, convenience for
consumers who want to name their own price for a home mortgage
New online mortgage application process will save
consumers up to $1,000 in closing costs
Service to offer online loan approval and
rate lock direct to consumer
Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN - news) and Alliance Capital Partners (a unitary thrift holding company) today announced plans to form a joint venture called
Pricelinemortgage that will offer name-your-price mortgages nationwide.
The companies said they are forming the venture to offer consumers another Internet alternative for obtaining name-your-price mortgages that will be fast, convenient
and money-saving.
Under the agreement, Alliance Mortgage, a subsidiary of Alliance Capital Partners and an approved Fannie Mae seller/servicer, will provide loan decisions on the
Pricelinemortgage Internet site using Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system, Desktop Underwriter®, the mortgage finance industry's leading automated
system. The online use of automated underwriting tools will allow customers to be approved faster and with fewer limitations than competing lending services.
Priceline.com has been offering name-your-price mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans through LendingTree since February 1999 and has helped consumers
secure almost $500,000,000 in accepted loans. LendingTree with its network of over 75 lenders continues to be a key strategic partner with priceline.com in
providing multiple options for consumers to get the rate and terms they want for home financing.
Priceline.com said that its strategic relationships with LendingTree and Alliance will help ensure that priceline.com customers enjoy the most competitive service on
the Internet for naming their own price and terms for a mortgage or loan. Through these relationships, priceline.com said it will now be able to offer its customers a
more diverse set of loan options for almost all credit criteria.
Consumer advantages to using Pricelinemortgage include:
Loan level pricing. Through a unique pricing engine being developed jointly with Alltel Corp. (NYSE: AT - news), each customer's loan request will be
evaluated based on its own unique attributes. Decisions on whether to accept the customer's requested interest rate and closing costs will be determined
uniquely based on each customer's credit history and loan attributes, ensuring the lowest possible price for each customer.
Real-time loan request evaluation. By using direct links to automated underwriting tools, Pricelinemortgage customers will receive a complete credit decision
online within minutes.
Online lock-in. At the time a borrower's ''name-your-own-rate'' offer is accepted, Pricelinemortgage will provide a locked-in rate to the consumer. Few
online originators allow consumers to complete the lock process electronically and virtually all place substantial restrictions on the rate lock.
Guaranteed low closing costs. Unlike other Internet mortgage sites, Pricelinemortgage spells out and guarantees closing costs and can save consumers up to
$1,000 in closing costs compared to other online and off-line lenders.
Broad availability. Pricelinemortgage will be able to offer numerous products and services to customers in all 50 states.
''Given the enthusiastic response to priceline.com's initial mortgage offering through LendingTree, it's clear that many consumers want a name-your-own-price option
for obtaining home mortgages and other loans,'' said Richard S. Braddock, Chairman and CEO of priceline.com. ''We look forward to working with Alliance and
LendingTree as we expand this exciting product line for priceline.com.''
''Partnering with priceline.com gives us the opportunity to enter one of the fastest growing segments of the mortgage industry,'' said Robert M. Clements, President
and CEO of Alliance Capital Partners. ''Priceline.com has already established its name-your-price brand in other industries and we look forward to helping them
become a premier brand in home financing.''
''Fannie Mae is committed to providing technology products that meet our lenders' needs,'' said Lawrence M. Small, Fannie Mae's President and Chief Operating
Officer. ''We are pleased that Alliance has chosen to use our technology products creatively to expand home ownership opportunities for more Americans.'' |
