20 Millionth Loan Registered on the MERS System.

Business Editors

VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2003

USAA Federal Savings Bank of San Antonio, Tex., registered the 20 millionth loan on the MERS(R) System on November 28, 2003.

"The team at USAA Federal Savings Bank has long realized the value of eliminating assignments," said Carson Mullen, MERS Executive Vice President, Customer Division. "They know the importance of streamlining the mortgage process, and we at MERS are very happy to support their efforts."

USAA Federal Savings Bank became a member of MERS in 2001, and to date, has over 28,000 loans registered on the MERS(R) System.

"We are gratified that lenders continue to see the power of the MERS(R) System, and what it can do for them," said R.K. Arnold, President & CEO of MERS. "The accelerating number of loans registered in the system affirms the MERS value proposition--saving time, money, and providing better business efficiencies for lenders."

20 million represents an almost 100 percent increase in the number of loans registered on the MERS(R) System in just one year.

About MERS

MERS is an electronic loan registry created by the real estate finance industry to eliminate assignments when trading mortgage loans. Borrowers name MERS as mortgagee and nominee for the lender on deeds of trust and mortgages that are recorded in the county land records. Lenders then register the loans on the MERS(R) System and electronically track changes in servicing and beneficial ownership rights over the life of the loan. To learn more about MERS, visit us at www.mersinc.org.

Loans registered with MERS are inoculated against future assignments because MERS remains the mortgagee of record no matter how often servicing is traded between MERS members. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, FHA, Ginnie Mae, the Federal Home Loan Bank MPF(R), California and New York housing authorities, and all major Wall Street rating agencies have approved MERS.