E-LOAN Named by Consumers and Industry Experts as One of America's Most Trusted Companies for Privacy
March 20 2006 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Independent Survey Ranks E-LOAN Among World-Class Brands Procter
and Gamble and Hewlett-Packard 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. (NYSE:BPOP), 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/ . DATASOURCE: E-LOAN CONTACT:
Keith Bratz, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Popular
Financial Holdings, +1-856-396-3762, or ; or Laurie Azzano of Cosmo
PR for E-LOAN, +1-415-786-3317, or Web site:
http://www.popularinc.com/ http://www.eloan.com/
http://www.ponemon.org/ http://www.truste.org/
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