E-LOAN Announces Key Additions to Management Team; Consumer Lending and Branding Veterans Bring Over Four Decades of Experience to Leading Online Lending Company
3 October 2000
E-LOAN Announces Key Additions to Management Team; Consumer Lending and Branding Veterans Bring Over Four Decades of Experience to Leading Online Lending Company
DUBLIN, Calif.--Oct. 3, 2000--E-LOAN, Inc. (www.eloan.com), a leading online lending company, today announced the addition of two key executives to its management team.Robert Purcell will drive the company's marketing program, bringing over two decades of experience in growing well-known consumer brands including Noah's New York Bagels, Dunkin' Donuts, General Mills and Federal Express. Also announced today, Stephen Herz has joined the company in a newly created position to manage its consumer loan products. With more than twenty years of experience in the financial industry at leading companies such as Visa International and Chase Manhattan Bank, Herz is responsible for E-LOAN's credit card and small business loan products and extending the company's product offerings further into the right side of the consumer balance sheet.
Purcell brings extensive experience in building leading national brands through his expertise in brand strategy and product marketing. As the original head of marketing at Noah's New York Bagels, Purcell was responsible for taking the company from a West Coast start-up to a nationally recognized consumer brand with more than 100 stores and one hundred million in revenue. In addition, Purcell was instrumental in generating more than $750 million dollars in new business for Dunkin' Donuts within 5 years and re-engineering the marketing of Federal Express.
More recently, as an e-commerce consultant, Purcell provided online marketing and business counsel to such clients as The American Medical Association, Priceline.com, Carclub.com and Fogdog. He is credited with turning healthshop.com into the number one alternative health site and number two overall health site on the Web. Purcell earned an MBA from University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and a BS from Trinity College.
"E-LOAN is known for its unsurpassed passion and commitment to putting the consumer first and providing the best possible loan experience," said Purcell. "My goal is to capitalize on E-LOAN's category leadership to turn our ever-increasing base of online browsers into online borrowers."
"E-LOAN has enjoyed a position of leadership and respect within the online lending industry because of our consistent product innovation and strong consumer advocacy," said Joe Kennedy, E-LOAN President and COO. " Bob has the unique ability to stand in the shoes of the consumer and, in turn, deliver the highest quality products and services that swiftly and economically meet their needs. His combination of brand-building and marketing experience for established companies as well as start-ups, make him an invaluable addition to the E-LOAN team."
Herz is the former chief operating officer at Paymap, a leading provider of automated payment programs for consumers. Prior to Paymap, Herz served as senior vice president, electronic commerce of Visa International's Emerging Technology Division. In this capacity, he was responsible for the development and implementation of Internet strategies and solutions to support Visa's global payment systems.
Herz also has previous experience in various management roles at Chase Manhattan Bank. His management responsibilities included development of market segmentation strategies, new consumer financial products, new sales and service capabilities, and consumer banking automation and distribution strategies. Herz earned an MBA from the University of Rochester and a BA in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh.
"E-LOAN is well positioned to be the destination of choice for all consumer loans", said Herz. "As we add other loan categories and extend our debt management capabilities, we can provide the best financing solutions for each consumer's needs".
"Steve's breadth of knowledge and experience with such industry heavyweights as Visa and Chase make him the perfect executive to lead E-LOAN's expansion into more consumer loan offerings," said Kennedy. "By bringing together this talented duo of industry veterans and continuing to develop such an experienced management team, we are better positioned to deliver on our vision to fundamentally change consumer lending and improve the overall customer experience."
About E-LOAN, Inc.
E-LOAN, Inc., a leading online lending company, offers consumer loans and debt management services online at www.eloan.com. E-LOAN has reinvented the consumer loan process by offering consumers an easier, more affordable and hassle-free way to get a loan. E-LOAN offers a broad choice of products from many lenders for mortgages, home equity loans, auto loans, credit cards and small business loans in a secure online environment, combined with comprehensive personal service from dedicated, unbiased loan consultants. Through the second quarter of 2000, E-LOAN originated over $2.5 billion in consumer loans. The company's loan processing centers are located in Dublin, CA and Jacksonville, FL. E-LOAN, Inc. is publicly traded on the Nasdaq system under the symbol EELN.