E-LOAN Named by Consumers and Industry Experts as One of America's Most Trusted Companies for Privacy

PLEASANTON, Calif., March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- E-LOAN(R), an online consumer direct lender, today announced that a national independent study of consumers conducted by TRUSTe and the Ponemon Institute ranked E-LOAN one of the top three most trusted companies for privacy in the United States, alongside worldwide brands Procter and Gamble and Hewlett-Packard.

Companies were first ranked by consumers as part of an unaided recall survey. The top 20 finalists then participated in a further review of their policies, practices and execution by an independent expert panel. This expert panel determined that P&G, HP and E-LOAN best upheld the trust each company has earned from its customers.

"At E-LOAN, we firmly believe that the only way to truly earn a consumer's business is to first earn their trust," said Tess Koleczek, chief privacy officer at E-LOAN. "As a company that has been fighting to protect consumers' right to privacy since its inception, it is gratifying to have both consumers and industry experts respond so favorably and validate our efforts."

"Protecting consumers' financial privacy has always been a business priority for E-LOAN," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman of Ponemon Institute. "There are not many companies that have been as proactive as E-LOAN in demonstrating a commitment to the privacy rights of customers. In my opinion, E-LOAN is well deserving of this recognition from both consumers and privacy experts."

"Our study found that to truly respect consumers' privacy, companies need to incorporate privacy into every aspect of their business," said Fran Maier, executive director and president of TRUSTe. "From respecting consumers choices about how to market to them and using the most secure technology available, to the way that their customer service representatives manage private information and respond to questions about privacy, it must be a core component of every customer interaction. E-LOAN has understood this from the beginning, which is why it continues to be recognized and rewarded for its strong commitment to consumer privacy."

As a staunch consumer advocate, E-LOAN played an integral role in the legislative battle to provide consumers access to their credit scores, the most important factor in determining whether a consumer is approved for a loan and at what rate.

In June 2002, E-LOAN co-founded Californians for Privacy Now (CFPN), a coalition dedicated to requiring financial service companies to first obtain consumers' consent before sharing their information with third parties and affiliates. As a result, E-LOAN helped facilitate the California legislature's passage of the strongest consumer financial privacy protection law in the nation.

In September 2005, the finalists from this most recent survey were announced as: American Express, Amazon, Procter and Gamble, Hewlett-Packard, eBay, AOL, USPS, Dell, IBM, Earthlink, Google, Charles Schwab, Apple,

Johnson & Johnson, WebMD, E-LOAN, WAMU, Federal Express, Yahoo!, USAA, and Walt Disney Corporation. Consumers were not given company names to rate; they were asked for the companies they considered noteworthy for their trustworthiness.

About E-LOAN(R)

E-LOAN is an online consumer direct lender dedicated to providing borrowers with a simple, easy and open way to obtain mortgage, auto loans, and home equity loans. Since its launch in 1997, E-LOAN has drawn upon its pro consumer values to improve the lending experience in revolutionary ways. By eliminating the traditional incentive structure to charge consumers higher rates, giving consumers free access to credit scores and eliminating lender fees, E-LOAN is providing a uniquely open, fair and honest loan process. Protecting consumers' financial privacy is also a paramount concern, leading E-LOAN to implement industry-leading privacy practices and advocate strong consumer financial privacy protection laws. Consumers have recognized E-LOAN for its trustworthiness and respect for customers. Three independent studies conducted by TRUSTe and the Ponemon Institute ranked E-LOAN as one of the Top 20 Most Trusted Companies for Privacy in America. In another independent study conducted by The Customer Respect Group, E-LOAN received the overall highest rating in the Online Customer Respect Study of North America's largest financial services firms. E-LOAN has originated and sold over $27 billion in consumer loans.

E-LOAN is a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular Financial Holdings, Inc., in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular, Inc. , a full service financial services provider with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. To find out more about E-LOAN and its products and services, logon to http://www.eloan.com/ , or call 1-888-E-LOAN-22.

About Ponemon Institute, LLC

Ponemon Institute is a "think tank" dedicated to advancing responsible information management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, Ponemon Institute conducts independent research on privacy and information security, educates leaders from the private and public sectors, and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations. The Institute is headquartered in Michigan. For more information, visit http://www.ponemon.org/ , or call (800) 887.3118.

About TRUSTe

TRUSTe, the independent trust authority, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information in the evolving networked world.

Founded in 1997, TRUSTe runs the largest privacy seal program in the world, certifying more than 1,500 Web sites with support from its sponsors, Microsoft, AOL, DoubleClick and Intuit. TRUSTe also provides standards, certification and oversight into e-mail accreditation with its E-mail Privacy Seal and the Bonded Sender Program. For more information on TRUSTe, please visit http://www.truste.org/ .