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Catherine A. Ghiglieri Joins rateGenius as CEO

15 June 2000

Online Auction for Bank Loans Designed to Empower Consumers

    AUSTIN, Texas - Former Texas Banking Commissioner Catherine A. Ghiglieri has been named chief executive officer of rateGenius Inc., an Austin-based startup that soon will be providing an Internet auction site for banks to bid on consumer loans.

    The Web site, scheduled to go live in early July, will focus first on automobile refinancing, allowing consumers to obtain better interest rates on their car loans than they did at the dealership.

    "I truly believe that the business model developed by rateGenius represents the next generation in consumer lending," Ghiglieri said. "I think this will be a particularly good way for community banks to reach new customers or retain current customers who will be shopping on the Internet for the best loan deals."

    Company Founder and Chairman Cole Lowenfield, a second-generation automobile dealership owner, said rateGenius is attempting to correct a traditional imbalance for the 80 percent of new-car buyers who finance their purchases through dealerships, where they often pay more in higher interest rates and excessive fees.
    Lowenfield emphasized that rateGenius is more than just an online referral service. "We facilitate a dynamic, live, real-time auction of consumer loans," Lowenfield said. "It's a complete solution for finding a better deal. And you don't have to do it over the Internet. Applicants can contact us by phone and we'll handle all the paperwork and posting."

    The process is designed to be quick and easy on both ends, Lowenfield said.

    Through an exclusive agreement with Equifax Inc. , the Atlanta-based consumer information company, rateGenius will receive consumer identity verification from Equifax's eID Verifier(tm) and credit scores from Equifax's Decision Power(R). Data is posted anonymously, along with consumer loan requests, on the auction site. Participating bankers access the site and bid on the loans, and the lowest bidders pay rateGenius for the leads.

    Newly-appointed CEO Ghiglieri, most recently a consultant focusing on electronic banking, served as Texas Banking Commissioner from 1992 to 1999. During her tenure she formed the Banking Code Revision Task Force to rewrite the state's 50-year-old banking laws, culminating in the passage of the Texas Banking Act in 1995.
    Before becoming Texas banking commissioner, Ghiglieri spent 18 years with the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of national banks nationwide. She is a native of Toluca, Ill., where her family has owned and operated a community bank for three generations. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from Georgia State University.