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E*TRADE to Invest in Leading Online Mortgage Lender E-LOAN;E*TRADE Expands Investment in Privately Held Internet Mortgage Company
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of an ongoing effort to increase its reach in the personal financial services arena, E*TRADE(R) Group Inc. (Nasdaq: EGRP) today announced that the company has expanded its investment by exercising warrants with E-LOAN Inc., a privately held multi-lender Internet mortgage company. E*TRADE acquired the warrants as part of an agreement with E-LOAN completed last year which named E-LOAN as the exclusive multi-lender partner to E*TRADE and its customers. The three-year agreement between the two companies was announced on March 31, 1998.
"We've had fantastic response from our customers since introducing E-LOAN on the Destination E*TRADE web site," said Christos M. Cotsakos, chief executive officer and chairman-elect of E*TRADE. "During the past several months, we've been extremely impressed with the E-LOAN management team, its business strategy and with the company's suite of financial products and services. This has heightened our desire to further leverage our already strong relationship with E-LOAN, the leader in the online mortgage services market," continued Cotsakos.
Through the E*TRADE web site, customers can access a co-branded E*TRADE/E-LOAN site where they can very quickly access comprehensive information on mortgages, shop for competitive prices and apply for a loan. Customers also can fill out questionnaires, receive custom quotes, compare their current mortgage to the market rate, pre-qualify for a mortgage and compare mortgage loan rates locally and nationally. E-LOAN provides all customer service support and back-office processing of loans.
"The exercising of warrants in E-LOAN is the latest in a series of strategic moves which we've undertaken recently to further establish E*TRADE as the premiere provider of online financial services," Cotsakos added. The move follows an announcement earlier this week of E*TRADE's intention to invest in E*OFFERING, a full-service online investment banking venture, as well as last week's announcement to acquire a 25 percent voting interest in Archipelago (symbol: TNTO), an operator of an established Electronic Communication Network (ECN) for Nasdaq stocks.
With respect to the E-LOAN announcement, Jerry Gramaglia, senior vice president of marketing for E*TRADE said, "We see tremendous synergy between E-LOAN and E*TRADE. This alliance provides us with an opportunity to strengthen our portfolio of financial products and services and to fulfill our promise to E*TRADE customers to provide them with the most comprehensive suite of Internet financial products and services available in the marketplace today."
"Our tremendous success with E*TRADE customers demonstrates that online investors are not only willing to accept, but in fact are demanding access to expanded financial products and services online," said Chris Larsen, chief executive officer of E-LOAN. "We look forward to broadening and deepening our relationship with E*TRADE to serve even more of their financially sophisticated customers."
About E*TRADE
A leading branded provider of online investing services, E*TRADE has established a popular destination Web site for self-directed investors. The Company offers independent investors the convenience and control of automated stock, options and mutual funds order placement at low commission rates.
In addition, E*TRADE has a suite of value-added products and services that can be personalized, including portfolio tracking, real-time stock quotes, Smart Alerts, market commentary and analysis, news, investor community areas and other information services. In August, E*TRADE was ranked the number one overall online brokerage service in two consecutive quarterly reviews conducted by Gomez Advisors, a leading independent authority devoted to online financial services (Q3/Q4 1998).
In October 1998, the E*TRADE Web site also was named the number one online investing site in an international survey of the industry's top 20 Internet brokerage firms by Lafferty Information and Research Group, a global provider of high-value and business information research.
Investors can access E*TRADE at www.etrade.com on the Internet and through many other electronic channels and online services, including AOL (Keyword: E*TRADE). E*TRADE Securities Inc. (Member NASD/SIPC), and its parent company, E*TRADE Group Inc., are headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
About E-LOAN
E-LOAN, Inc. is the leading online mortgage broker. At www.eloan.com, borrowers can compare, apply for and obtain home loans from the nation's leading lenders. E-LOAN saves borrowers as much as 75 percent on brokerage fees through the elimination of unnecessary transaction costs, while providing personalized customer service.
After closing a loan, E-LOAN can, at the customer's request, continue to send customized information about new products that become available, helping consumers turn a mortgage into a working financial asset. E-LOAN offers customers 24 hour a day online access to updated information on their loan status through its exclusive E-Track(SM) service. E-LOAN is the exclusive mortgage services provider to loan centers on many leading web sites, including Yahoo! and The Motley Fool. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, with loan processing offices in Dublin, CA. E-LOAN's investment partners include Yahoo!, SOFTBANK, Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Technology Partners.
Important Information:
E*TRADE is a registered trademark of the Company. All other Trademarks are properties of their respective owners. The statements contained in this news release that are forward-looking are based on current expectations that are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially. The uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, changes in market activity, market acceptance of the new E*TRADE destination Web site, anticipated increases in the rate of new customer acquisition, seasonality, the development of new products and services, the enhancement of existing products and services, competitive pressures (including price competition), system failures, economic and political conditions, changes in consumer behavior and the introduction of competing products having technological and/or other advantages. Further information about these risks and uncertainties can be found in the information included in the annual report filed by the Company with the SEC on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
SOURCE E*TRADE Group Inc.
CO: E*TRADE Group Inc.; E*TRADE; E-LOAN Inc.
ST: California
IN: MLM FIN
SU:
01/13/99 08:25 EST prnewswire.com |
