Bankrate.com Announces Top Tier Awards for First Quarter; Bankrate.com Recognizes Institutions That Provide Highest Yields on FDIC-insured CD's and Money Market Accounts.

Business Editors

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001

Bankrate.com (www.bankrate.com), the Internet's leading consumer finance marketplace and flagship site of Bankrate, Inc (OTCBB:RATE), today announced the winners of the Top Tier award for the first quarter of 2001. The Top Tier award recognizes institutions that consistently provide the highest yields on their FDIC-insured certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market accounts.

Among the award winners for 1st quarter 2001 are 5 institutions that have been recognized for five consecutive quarters: Bluebonnet Savings Bank; Capital One FSB; Key Bank USA; New South Federal Savings Bank; and NextBank, NA. A complete listing of the first quarter 2001 recipients is posted at http://www.bankrate.com/toptier.

"The Top Tier Awards are the perfect complement to Bankrate.com's objective and comprehensive rate listings," stated Elisabeth DeMarse, President and CEO of Bankrate, Inc.. "During this volatile rate environment, consumers can now assess the consistency by which a particular institution offers the highest-yielding products."

"Bankrate.com recognizes those institutions offering the highest yields," noted Jeff Cunningham, Chairman of the Board for Bankrate, Inc.. "Consumers, in turn, can use Bankrate.com's information when researching where to invest."

Top Tier awards cover a full range of investment alternatives including minimum-to-open, mini-jumbo and jumbo money market accounts and CDs of terms from 3 months to 5 years. The overall rank is determined by the number of times the institution's yield was among the top 20 yields for a specific product, and the relative ranking of the yield.

About Bankrate.com

Bankrate.com is owned and operated by Bankrate, Inc. (OTCBB:RATE). Bankrate.com is the Internet's leading consumer finance marketplace, with an average of 1.6 million unique visitors per month connecting with over 4,500 financial institutions in 158 markets in 50 states. Bankrate operates a portfolio of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes and small business finance. It is the leading aggregator of 100 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CD's, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees.

Bankrate provides financial applications and information to a network of over 130 partners including MSN (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: AOL), CNN and Smart Money. The company's information is also distributed through more than 100 national and state publications.

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act. Investors are cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those anticipated by such statements and are advised to consult our current SEC filings for additional information concerning risk factors that affect the Company's business.