This latest report: Wisely Advised

Bankrate, Inc.

We at Bankrate, Inc. have over three decades' experience in financial publishing. Bankrate was born in 1976 as "Bank Rate Monitor," a print publisher for the banking industry. The "Bank Rate Monitor" newsletter we originally distributed contained much of the same rate research and information we're known for and respected for today. After two decades of conducting quality, trusted rate research, we took our product to the Web, expanded our offerings and made our online debut in 1996. Since then, we have increased our site traffic to over 13 million monthly unique visitors, expanded our distribution outlets, added new content channels and continually strive to provide a better, more comprehensive consumer experience.

Today, Bankrate, Inc. is the Web's leading aggregator of financial rate information, offering an unparalleled depth and breadth of rate data and financial content. Bankrate continually surveys approximately 4,800 financial institutions in all 50 states in order to provide clear, objective, and unbiased rates to consumers. Our flagship Web site, Bankrate.com, provides free rate information to consumers on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees.

In addition to rate data, we publish original and objective personal finance stories to help consumers make informed financial decisions. Our staff of award winning reporters and editors provides expert advice on just about every major financial decision facing our readers: fro m purchasing their first home, to sel ecting a new car, to saving for retirement.

Hundreds of print publications depend on Bankrate as the trusted source for financial rates and information, including the top 10 newspapers in the country, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. And you will see our data frequently referenced on "CNN," "CNBC," "Fox Business News," "ABC News" and many other major broadcast news outlets.

Bankrate's site displays two sets of rates that are produced fro m two surveys we conduct: one daily and the other weekly. They're both useful, but they're samples of different groups and they serve different purposes.

You will see daily rate averages on the site in boxes labeled "overnight averages" (these calculations are run after the close of the business day).

Included there are rates we have collected on the previous day for a specific banking product. Overnight averages tend to be volatile. They help consumers see the movement of rates day to day. The institutions included in the "overnight averages" tables will be different fro m one day to the next, depending on which institutions' rates we gather on a particular day for presentation on the site.

The "National Index," or "national survey of large lenders," is conducted weekly. The results of this survey are quoted in our weekly articles, the Interest Rate Roundup and our Mortgage Analysis. To conduct the National Index survey, Bankrate obtains rate information fro m the 10 largest banks and thrifts in 10 large U.S. markets. We've conducted this survey in the same manner for more than 30 years, and because it's consistently done the way it is, it gives an accurate national apples-to-apples comparison.

The credit card index is based on a weekly survey of the 50 largest card issuers, ranked by total receivables, an industry standard measure.

The Bankrate Online Network

We own a network of content-rich, proprietary websites focused on specific vertical categories, including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards and other personal finance categories. Through this network, as well as co-branded web sites hosted by our network of 90+ online distribution partners, we provide the tools and information via a suite of products and services that can help consumers make better informed financial decisions.