Chase Auto Finance Expands Presence in Atlanta Area

GARDEN CITY, N.Y.--Aug. 1, 2006--Chase Auto Finance will expand its presence in the Atlanta area this month by opening a Prime/Near Prime business center to focus even more attention on area auto dealers looking to provide their customers with auto loan solutions.

The new office will occupy space with Chase's existing Custom Finance Business Center at 500 Town Park Lane, Suite 100 in Kennesaw. It will provide dealers with Prime/Near Prime loan options for consumers looking to buy new or used cars as well as auto loans to businesses.

"By opening a Prime/Near Prime Business Center, Chase will strengthen its 20-plus-year commitment to dealers and individuals in the Atlanta area," said Joe Scimone, president of Prime Auto for Chase. "Car buyers span the credit spectrum, so we are making it even more convenient for auto dealers in the region to meet their customers' diverse needs."

Lori Toole will head the Chase Prime/Near Prime sales team, which collectively has more than 90 years of auto industry experience. Toole will work with district regional managers Melissa Messeguer, Scott Aron and Charlie Cole, Credit Manager Brent Oliver and credit analysts Cassandra Parrish and Rena Mosley. Steve Topp manages the site's Sub Prime center, which employs about 30, including district regional managers Cathy Swann and Sue Dingle. Alan Smith, Dealer Commercial Services senior banker, provides commercial banking services to dealers in the region.

"By bringing together our teams in this major market, we can more fully support dealers and thus their customers by providing them with more of the attention and quality service they have come to expect from Chase over the years," said Bill Jensen, National Sub-Prime Executive, Chase Auto Finance.

Chase Auto Finance's retail and commercial sales teams provide a full spectrum of services to dealerships throughout the Southeast, including a regional office in Tampa, Fla., and Sub-Prime Business Centers in Tulsa, Okla., Baton Rouge, La., and Fort Worth and Houston, Texas. Its Dealer Commercial Services staff services the states of North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia from the Atlanta office.

Chase Auto Finance operates 47 offices and satellite locations, purchases retail installment contracts and originates loans across the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska. Its Dealer Commercial Services division is the largest non-captive floor plan and commercial loan provider for auto dealerships across the nation. It works with other divisions within the firm to also provide treasury services, real estate lending and other banking services to dealers.

Chase Auto Finance Corp. together with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., is one of the largest bank providers of auto financing in the country. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.2 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity. Under the JPMorgan and Chase brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.