SmartHippo.com Launches World's First Community Comparison Shopping Site for Financial Services at TechCrunch40 Event; Founding Participating Banks I

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 17, 2007 -- SmartHippo (http://www.smarthippo.com) today launched the public beta version of the first ever web site that allows individuals to use the power of a community to save money and make better decisions when shopping for rates on financial products and services.

"The lending industry is in a state of transformation," said George Favvas, President of SmartHippo, "and consumers are demanding more control and transparency in their dealings with banks and mortgage companies."

SmartHippo allows any individual to post information and feedback on the rate they received, and to compare rates with other members of the community with similar profiles. This lessens the chance of consumers with the same lending and risk profile getting different rates on the same loan, which can happen currently.

SmartHippo is launching in open beta at the TechCrunch40 (http://www.techcrunch40.com) event taking place September 17 and 18 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Team members will be demonstrating the SmartHippo site all day September 17 in the Gold Ballrooom between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The site may be accessed as of this morning on the web at http://www.smarthippo.com

Coinciding with its launch today, SmartHippo is also announcing the participation of QuickenLoans (http://www.quickenloans.com), Bank of Internet (http://www.bankofinternet.com) and another major financial institution as founding participating banks of the site. These members will post their available rates on SmartHippo, which are then subject to voting and feedback from the community in an open and transparent process. Other banks are also invited to join the site to post their rates and engage with members of the community.

"The banks that are onboard for our launch understand the importance of transparency in the lending process and have agreed to be part of an open marketplace. We are proud to be associated with them," said Favvas.

"At Quicken Loans, our success is driven by constantly finding better ways to serve our clients, We call it 'building a better mousetrap'," said Frank Laura, Chief Information Officer, Quicken Loans. "We've been able to change an entire industry using technology to make the mortgage experience simple and transparent for our clients. We share SmartHippo's vision of giving consumers the tools they need to educate themselves about one of the biggest and most important purchase decisions they'll ever make."

"Consumers need services like the one SmartHippo has developed," said Gary Lewis Evans, President & CEO at Bank of Internet USA. "Competition is always good, and SmartHippo's social network will allow banks to promote products while providing consumers with the opportunity to validate and or challenge the offerings by pointing out the hidden negatives."

About SmartHippo

SmartHippo is an initiative of Reflexity, Inc, which develops innovative applications that connect consumers with financial service providers. Current and past clients include Countrywide Bank, E-Loan, LowerMyBills.com, and Equifax. The company services the US market exclusively and is based in Montreal, Canada, has 10 employees and is profitable.

About QuickenLoans

Quicken Loans is the nation's largest online retail home lender and the country's 11th largest retail lender overall, and is expected to close nearly $20 billion in home loans in calendar year 2007. The company employs nearly 5,000 people and has been ranked in the "Top 20" of FORTUNE Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list for the last four years.

About B of I Holding, Inc. and Bank of Internet USA

BofI Holding, Inc. is the holding company of Bank of Internet USA and trades on NASDAQ under the symbol BOFI. Bank of Internet USA is a consumer focused, FDIC insured, nationwide savings bank operating primarily over the Internet. It offers a variety of consumer banking services, focusing primarily on gathering retail deposits, over the Internet and originating home equity loans, auto loans and RV loans, as well as originating and purchasing multifamily and single-family mortgage loans.

For more information

George Favvas

CEO, SmartHippo

(514) 667-1572 (office)

(514) 242-5730 (mobile)

george at smarthippo dot com

http://www.smarthippo.com

Glenn Ray

QuickenLoans

(734) 805-4797 (office)

(248) 231-1939 (mobile)

http://www.quickenloans.com

Adam Heitzman

Bank of Internet

adam at bankofinternet dot com

http://www.bankofinternet.com

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