The Aimbridge Group Offers Balloon Note Financing; Product Offering Provides Credit Union Members Another Financing Alternative

    DENVER--Dec. 2, 2002--The Aimbridge Group, a provider of financial products through partnerships with credit unions, announced that it offers balloon note financing on automobiles to credit union members.
    Balloon notes are a hybrid of a traditional loan and a lease. While the financing tool is structured like a lease, it is actually a loan.
    The company offers the balloon notes to credit unions through a direct or an indirect method. Aimbridge Leasing, a division of The Aimbridge Group, offers the balloon note directly to credit unions. Aimbridge Indirect Lending, another division, offers the product indirectly to credit unions and the dealer network.
    Balloon notes can be obtained through an Internet solution on The Aimbridge Group's Web site. Employees can select the "credit unions" option, enter their assigned password, and select "balloon notes" in the financing tools segment. They can view the residual values as well as all relevant information on vehicles and then select the vehicles that members finance with balloon notes. The Internet solution produces a booking sheet summarizing the activity.
    "We are focused on offering our credit union partners loan products that allow them to grow relationships with their members," said Steve Bentley, The Aimbridge Group's CEO. "Adding the balloon note enhances our offering to our partners. It also presents another lending product to help them improve member retention and foster growth. If a member is interested in financing a car with a balloon note, and the credit union doesn't offer it, the credit union member will go elsewhere to finance the car."
    Credit unions like the balloon note because it has the features of a lease, offers higher yields and has a longer average life before payoff. Members benefit from the balloon note because they hold title to the automobile.
    At the end of the term set in the note, members have the same options as with leasing. They can walk away from the automobile and owe nothing more or purchase it at the agreed-upon price.
    "Balloon notes give more control to credit unions because they can service them," Bentley said. "With a balloon note, credit unions don't have to hand over the servicing to a third party. Balloon notes also present members with another financing alternative for a car so they don't have to have a fully amortizing loan, offering them a lower payment."

    About The Aimbridge Group

    Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Denver, The Aimbridge Group markets financial products, such as auto loans and leases, mortgages and insurance products through partnerships with credit unions. The company, formerly Bentley Networks, Inc., helps their partners attract members and deepen their relationships by providing members with more reasons to do business with their credit unions.
    The Aimbridge Group is comprised of five divisions, including Aimbridge Indirect Lending, Aimbridge Leasing, Aimbridge Mortgage, Aimbridge Financial Services and Aimbridge Automotive Group. While the company is headquartered in Denver, it has remote offices in Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; St. Louis, Mo.; Pequannock, N.J.; Chicago, Ill.; Charleston, S.C. and Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and Miami, Florida.
    For additional information, write Aimbridge Indirect Lending at 7995 East Hampden Ave., Suite 200, Denver, CO, 80231 or contact Kathy Strawmatt at 303.306.3240. Visit its Web site at www.aimbridge.com.