To: lupaka who wrote (5144 ) 10/20/2000 9:37:21 PM From: lupaka Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 5650 Chilean financial services site & P6 alliance Finanzaspersonales Relaunches Site, Invests US$300,000 Thursday 19 October 2000 (BNamericas.com) - Chilean financial services site Finanzaspersonales (FP)(www.finanzaspersonales.com) relaunched this week its site after a US$300,000 investment, Chile country manager Leon de Castro told BNamericas.com. The relaunch follows a series of user surveys developed by Finanzaspersonales since its launch in March. The new site, which primarily targets 24- to 45-year-olds, allows users to apply for credit and insurance, as well as trade stocks and mutual funds. It also provides online personal finance tools such as calculators, simulators and insurance and credit quotes. A news section offers daily financial news and information. The company hopes to eventually implement online payment, but is still awaiting for Chilean authorities to greenlight such an operation. FP hopes to expand into Argentina and Brazil by 1Q01, and is in talks with potential partners in these countries, de Castro said. The site is currently negotiating an alliance with US-based regional ISP Psinet (www.psinet.com), which would provide the site with web hosting, as well as technological equipment and infrastructure in exchange for FN services. FP launched on March 30 with support from local incubator Eventures (www.eventures.cl), which provided an initial US$100,000. To date, the incubator has invested US$1.5mn in FP, de Castro said. Competitors include local online credit broker Sumejorcredito (www.sumejorcredito.cl) and fellow Argentina-based The Credit Company (www.thecreditcompany.com), which also has a subsidiary in Chile, he concluded.