Most of the New Zealand financial institutions who offer home loan products and services - including the four largest
banks - have agreements with E-LOAN New Zealand to sell through the online home loan service when it launches next week.
Chief Executive of E-LOAN New Zealand, Bruce Gordon, says he is delighted with the response. Combined, the lenders
represent around 9 out of 10 dollars currently borrowed for residential home loans.
"The level of support E-LOAN has received has been fantastic. The response indicates the real enthusiasm that the
financial services marketplace has for the online delivery channel.
"E-LOAN is a service that puts the customer first. It enables customers to get the right home loan from around 200
available products and it's totally free," says Mr Gordon.
Mr Gordon says the lenders represented a broad cross-section of New Zealand's financial services companies, including
many of the specialist and niche home lending companies.
Through a simple and free online process, E-LOAN customers can get objective and impartial information so they can make
comparisons between a wide range of home loan products and select the best loan for their individual needs. E-LOAN
supports the customer through the entire loan process, from application to settlement. The online service is supported
by expert help through phone and email.
At the heart of E-LOAN is an absolute commitment to the security and privacy of customer information. E-LOAN is required
to abide by the same privacy and confidentiality regulations that govern traditional financial institutions.
Loan applications on the internet are transmitted using 128-bit encryption.
E-LOAN New Zealand is the first e-business venture of eVentures New Zealand, an internet accelerator company.
B A C K G R O U N D E R
* E-LOAN's vision is to be New Zealand's leading established online home loan seller. For participating financial
lenders, E-LOAN offers a comprehensive alternative selling channel to reach customers, at a time convenient to the
customer.
* New Zealand's financial services sector is a leader in providing online services for domestic customers, with
all of the major banks now offering internet banking services.
* The New Zealand home loan market is estimated to be approximately $60 billion. Reports vary, but there is
approximately $15 billion turnover in home loans each year - that's people switching their home loan provider.
* While the home loan market is predominantly serviced by traditional lending institutions, mortgage brokers are
capturing an increasingly larger chunk of the marketplace (in 1998, they accounted for 17 percent).
* According to an article in NZ Banker (March 1999), by next year mortgage brokers could account for 35 percent of
the marketplace.
Bruce Gordon, CE0, E-LOAN New Zealand Bruce Gordon has a proven background in business development, a real commitment to
consumers and an acute knowledge of the banking and financial services industries. He has a solid grounding in
operational customer-focused banking and is an expert in electronic applications in banking services, and in business
development.
Prior to joining E-LOAN Mr Gordon was chief executive officer of Farmers' Financial Services, New Zealand's largest
consumer finance and card company. In this role he made significant changes to the company which greatly improved its
performance. His achievements included launching the Farmers' Home Loan Service. In previous roles with the Bank of New
Zealand and ASB Bank Mr Gordon has worked to bring to market leading electronic banking facilities such as Telephone
Banking, Secure internet Payments and EFTPOS.
About E-LOAN E-LOAN Inc was founded in August 1996 in the United States and is publicly traded on the NASDAQ. Its board
of directors includes representatives of Yahoo!, Benchmark Capital, Bank of America, and Technology Partners. SOFTBANK
Corp is an investor in E-LOAN.
E-LOAN Inc has been offering online home loans since June 1997 and vehicle financing loans since September 1999. As part
of its product range, E-LOAN Inc also offers business loans, insurance products and branded credit cards. The savings
and selection that E-LOAN Inc offers has meant that it has captured 25 percent of the online home loan market in the
United States.
E-LOAN New Zealand is 50% owned by eVentures New Zealand and 50% owned by E-LOAN Inc.