CD and Money Market Yields Trickling Lower; Bankrate.com Posts Weekly CD Survey Results.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2003

Uninspired by an anemic economy, yields on both regular and jumbo money market accounts (MMAs) and certificates of deposit (CDs) continue to trickle lower.

Jumbo accounts require minimum deposits of at least $100,000, but they have not fared any differently than accounts requiring smaller minimums. Yields on nearly all maturities declined by just 1 basis point since last week, but continue to drift to new lows each week. A basis point is one one-hundredth of one percentage point.

       Deposit averages from Bankrate.com's national CD survey

        Money market account: 0.78%, down from 0.79% last week
          6-month CD yield: 1.27%, unchanged from last week
          1-year CD yield: 1.46%, down from 1.47% last week
          5-year CD yield: 3.16%, down from 3.18% last week

Investors willing to shop for their FDIC-insured money market and certificates of deposit nationwide are doing much better than average. This week, Bankrate.com found nine institutions paying from 2.25 percent APY to 2.4 percent APY on money market deposit accounts. On one-year CDs, Bankrate.com found five institutions that continue paying from 2.6 percent APY to 2.7 percent APY. All yields are available nationally to customers who do not have an existing relationship with the institution.

Bankrate.com conducts two surveys each week for money market accounts and CDs. The 100 Highest Yields survey is conducted weekly to find the highest-yielding CD and money market accounts available to consumers nationwide. Bankrate.com also conducts a weekly national CD survey, which compiles the rates from the largest banks and thrifts in each of the 10 largest U.S. markets to arrive at a national average.

These surveys are supplemented by the Rate Trend Index, a weekly poll of bankers and industry experts on the direction of CD returns in the coming week. This week, those polled for the Index said that rates will either decline or, more likely, remain unchanged on a long-term basis. Short term, the votes were evenly divided between decline and unchanged.

To see data from Bankrate's 100 Highest Yields survey, go to http://www.bankrate.com and click on "CD/Savings."

To see the complete Bankrate Rate Trend Index, go to http://www.bankrate.com/CD-RTI

About Bankrate Inc.

Bankrate Inc. (OTCBB:RATE) owns and operates Bankrate.com, the Internet's leading consumer banking marketplace. Bankrate.com averages 3.3 million unique visitors per month, according to comScore Media Metrix, which ranks Bankrate.com first in unique visitors in the "Financial information and advice" category. Bankrate.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 173 markets in 50 states. Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes and small business finance. It is the leading aggregator of more than 100 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees.

Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 80 partners including MSN (Nasdaq:MSFT), Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO), America Online (NYSE:AOL) and Smart Money. Bankrate.com's information is also distributed through more than 100 national and state publications.